


Brains Out

by DreamDrop



Series: THIRDS [2]
Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Alternate Universe - Shapeshifters, Charlie Cochet, Damen and Laurent are partners, Everything Will Be Explained, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Now the story tags, Shapeshifting, THIRDS Series, UST, can be read without knowing the series, characters do not make an appearance, only the universe is used
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-07-23
Packaged: 2021-03-04 06:00:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 44,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24628933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamDrop/pseuds/DreamDrop
Summary: Damen gets a new partner after his brother tried to kill him on the job and Jokaste, his former partner and ex-fiancée, didn't even bother with a warning. Little did he know how much Laurent Leblanc would change his life from the moment he stepped into it.
Relationships: Auguste & Laurent (Captive Prince), Auguste/Nikandros (Captive Prince), Damen/Laurent (Captive Prince), Minor Lazar/Pallas (Captive Prince)
Series: THIRDS [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1777957
Comments: 116
Kudos: 95





	1. Hot damn, you're intellectual

**Author's Note:**

> So, I totally love how much you seem to like the first part of the story. Here is the second part. I look forward to hear from you. You guys are amazing. The title and also the chapter titles are from "Brains Out" by Kim Cesarion. It's like my soundtrack for Laurent and Damen. I just can't get over the fact that the lyrics seem to describe them perfectly.

They met in the training bay after Theomedes once again reminded the whole Unit to look forward into the future for equality between therians and humans. Obviously Lazar laughed his ass off.

Back in the Arena Halvik had immediately stepped forward and had taken Laurent and Vannes on a tour through the building while the rest of the team was ushered to the training bay by Damen. 

The tiger therian couldn't stop, especially when he saw Nik's scowling face.  
"I would wish you good luck on this front but to be honest, I think the result is clear even before the game started." Lazar grinned and clapped Nik on the back. 

Damen rolled his eyes. "Now, you really need to keep in mind that my fiancée just cheated on me with my brother."  
Lazar shrugged. "A good rebound never hurt."

"You actually suggest I fuck Auguste's little brother as a rebound? Are you suicidal?" Damen stared Lazar down and the blond man immediately sobered up. "You are right. I shouldn't joke about such things. You might actually do it and then we are all screwed."

Damen sighed and then a slow smile spread on his face. "As you seem to have enough energy, let's put it to good use. I need to get back in shape. You ready?" Lazar grimaced. "Seriously? Me? Why don't you kick Pallas' ass?"

"Because my ass is a lot nicer than yours, Lazar." Pallas flipped him off and then the close quarter combat expert took Lykaios and Isander to one of the empty mats. 

After the incident the first thing Damen requested was that all his team members needed to get into top combat shape and who was better qualified to do that than Pallas? He had started with Isander and Lykaios, as they had the most to learn and now it was routine for all of them that he trained together with the two of them.

Nicaise was remarkably silent. Since they saw their new team members the youngest of them hadn't really said much. Now he sat down on the edge of the mat where Damen and Lazar started a quick warm up. 

Lazar seemed as taken aback as Damen with the fact that Nicaise wasn't flipping his shit. He actually looked worried. "Everything okay, kid?"  
Nicaise threw him a venomous look. "Shut your trap, idiot." Then he started typing away on his phone. 

Lazar grinned, while stretching. As long as Nicaise could insult him, everything was well. Damen rolled his eyes. Then he motioned for Lazar to advance. The other man grimaced. Lazar was big, but Damen was bigger.

And he was one of the best. The elite of the elite, that was also the reason, he was made youngest team leader in the history of the THIRDS in Delpha. 

Lazar took a swing at him and Damen blocked without even having to think. He grinned. At least his body still remembered. The last weeks were dedicated to getting his strength back. He needed to build up his muscle mass again and it was painful and hard. He needed to make sure he stayed flexible and agile and so he took up yoga. But combat training was forbidden.

He knew he wasn't in top form. His strength was not back to what it was before the incident, his normal workout routine did push him hard nowadays where he did it easily every day before. He longed for times gone but he also knew that he made fast progress and recovered faster than anyone anticipated.

"Well, at least Auguste can defend his virtue,“ Lazar teased just when Damen swept his legs out from under him and pinned him to the mat.

"I don‘t need my big brother to defend my virtue. First, I am capable of doing that myself and second, it‘s too late anyway. Much too late,“ a bored voice drawled and they all looked to the door of the training bay where Halvik stood together with Laurent and Vannes.

Laurent studied Lazar and Damen with a smirk on his full lips and a relaxed posture. Damen immediately let his opponent go and stood. He felt the tightening in his gut and a wave of worry swept over him. He rarely reacted as strongly to a person as he reacted to Laurent. 

He beckoned the team to Halvik and as soon as everybody was there Halvik started with the introductions. She named every team member with their position but saved Isander and Damen until last. Her no-nonsense attitude ensured that even Lazar kept his mouth shut.

"Vannes, this is Isander. Your partner. He is a trained medic. Isander, this is Vannes, leopard therian and a sniper.“  
They shook hands and Damen could see that Vannes seized up her partner. 

Isander was on the leaner and definitively shorter size of the team. She was half a head taller than him, but she didn‘t make the same mistake that Kastor made. She didn‘t brush the man off. No, she catalogued every single detail about him and then smiled. 

"Good to get to know you. I always admired medics. If you blow someone‘s head away everything gets so fucking messy but you guys don‘t bat an eyelash if there is someone that needs your help. Other soldiers vomit all over the place.“

Isander flushed and looked away. "I think the focus lies elsewhere in these moments.“  
Damen could see how she held back a coo. Yes, Isander was the baby of the team although Nicaise was even younger and Laurent was too. 

The reminder of his partner had him hot all over. He had avoided looking too closely at the blond man but he couldn‘t delay it for eternity. Most of all when Halvik moved from Isander to him.

"This is your team leader, Damianos Vallis. Laurent, he‘s your partner. Damianos, this are the new team members. Vannes du Pont and Laurent Leblanc.“

Damen shook first Vannes’ hand and then Laurent‘s. His fingers were long and slender but his grip was strong and definitely not shy. He looked into his eyes and almost lost his ability to speak. 

Laurent‘s eyes were the bluest blue he ever saw. Silver specks could be detected in them, but this only enhanced the deep blue that seemed to change colors while Damen stared him in the eyes like a lovesick fool. He shook himself out of it.

"Please, call me Damen.“ Vannes nodded. Laurent observed him, his full lips twitching. "Well, Damen, does my brother need to be notified to defend my virtue, or something else for that matter, because of you?“

Damen glared at Lazar, who stuffed a fist into his mouth to keep from laughing out loud. His face got red, his eyes teared up and Damen rolled his eyes. "Get it out of your system before you combust and make a mess out of our training bay.“

Lazar immediately started laughing. Damen redirected his focus to Laurent, who still observed him intently. 

"That depends, sweetheart, are you intending to date me and have an affair with my brother at the same time? While said brother plots to kill me? If you consider the possibility, you should go get your brother to defend you, otherwise I think we will work out just fine.“ Damen smiled pleasantly and then stepped back. Laurent still stared at him. 

"Back to your training. Sergeant, thank you for bringing them to me.“  
Halvik nodded and then said her goodbyes. "If he can still laugh like that, you didn't put him through enough training yet." She motioned to Lazar and Damen nodded. "I know. I wasn't finished with him."

Lazar blanched but Damen was unrelenting. He bellowed the order for Lazar to start with the training against Nikandros. His best friend glared at him. Clearly still agitated over the fact that Laurent looked like- well- Damen couldn't even describe the man. 

Laurent looked like he belonged on the pages of a magazine, or on a TV screen, preferably half naked. He needed to get a grip on himself. This couldn't continue. He was the team leader, and his new partner deserved better than a man who could only think with his dick around him.

The blond man sided up beside him and asked, deadpan: "How many more brothers are there that might plot your immediate demise? Depending on the number, I might consider the odds in favor of plan B, betraying you to save my own ass.“

Damen couldn‘t keep himself from laughing a startled laugh. "You can relax. I only have one brother and as you know he is currently in prison.“  
"Good to know. Then I won‘t have to sleep with any brothers of yours and can stick to plan A.“

"And what, pray tell, is plan A?“  
Laurent only raised one eyebrow. "Keeping you and myself from getting killed.“  
"Good plan. I approve.“ Damen nodded. He was surprised how easy he could joke with Laurent.

"I pride myself of having the best plans. A result from growing up with a ten years older therian brother. If I wanted to win, I had to be sneaky. And a lot wiser than my years. Auguste isn‘t exactly what one would call a fool. Fortunately, he is too trusting.“

His lips curled up in a smirk and Damen couldn't deny the stir in his gut anymore. Yes, Laurent was dangerous. One sinful smile and Damen would be on his knees. 

He almost laughed at the thought. Why did the universe hate him so much? He didn't want another beautiful partner that could shatter his heart. Yet, he was already in too deep. He knew himself. The interest he had taken in Laurent wouldn't stop just go away because he wanted it to. 

When Laurent shed his uniform jacket and stood only in the tight black undershirt across from him on the mat, his stomach tightened. The man was pure perfection. He was every single wet dream of Damen personified.

His body was muscled but leaner than Damen's own. The shirt stretched tight over defined muscles and the blond hair was a stark contrast to the black color of his uniform. He stretched and revealed how flexible he was; and he was damn flexible. Damen had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from visibly reacting. Fuck. 

Laurent took a fighting stance and looked at Damen expectantly. "Now, partner. Won't you show me how it's done?"

Damen was in so much trouble. Laurent's posture was flawless, his eyes focused, his breathing even and his muscles were tense. Jokaste was good, everybody knew it and every therian in unit Alpha had wanted her as their human partner, but Laurent was in a whole other league. Damen could see it from the way he held himself.

He smiled, exited for the new challenge. He wanted to see what his human partner could do, so he decided to hold back on his strength. Nicaise sat at the edge of the mat together with Lykaios, both enthralled by the display before them.

Vannes was with Pallas and Isander. Nikandros glared at him from behind Laurent while he dragged Lazar with him and Kashel looked on from her post by the punching bag, where she wrapped her hands up. His team was alright. He could indulge in a bit of friendly competition. 

He stepped on the mat.  
"You sure?" He didn't want to bruise his ego too much on his first day. 

Laurent only raised an eyebrow in challenge. "Please, you're obviously not back to full strength and Auguste advised me to take advantage of that because otherwise nobody has a chance against you, except some rare therians."

Damen laughed at his dry tone of voice and deliberately put his weight on his injured leg. "You are right; I am not back to top form, yet." 

Laurent looked his posture over, his eyes cataloguing the shift and Damen knew he had him.  
Then he charged. Laurent stood still and watched him, until the last possible moment, then he ducked away to the side. 

But contrary to Damen's assumption, Laurent didn't fall for his trick and delivered a blow to his injured leg. It hurt like a bitch. Laurent didn't wait for him to recover. He kicked the back of Damen's knee and he went down hard when another blow met his back. Which was still sore and aching.

Fuck. He should have listened and not rushed it. He groaned and Laurent was on him immediately. His partner held him down, but Damen knew, he couldn't give in to the pain. He twisted his body and pushed the man off of him. Then he got to his feet.

His back hurt like crazy, he gritted his teeth and delivered a blow that would have knocked Laurent out straight if he didn't doge it. They traded blows after blows and the force that was behind Laurent's punches surprised Damen. He certainly didn't pull them.

And he had talent and better training than most. He suspected that the big, therian brother who worked for the THIRDS had something to do with that.

Laurent surprised him again, when he refrained from touching Damen's back on the next opportunity. It was nice but it was also a mistake. Laurent was too close for his own good and Damen grabbed him around his waist to throw him down on the mat.

The blond man landed hard, all air leaving his body and before he could recover, Damen rolled him to his stomach, one knee dug into his spine, secured his wrists tightly in a sure grasp and waited for Laurent to stop struggling.

Damen felt the sweat running down his temple. Laurent's t-shirt was plastered to his skin, his hair was damp and stuck to the back of his neck, but he smiled and said, "I tap out."

When Damen let go of his wrists, he stood up and then helped his new partner to his feet. He didn't want to sound too excited, but this was the best fight he had in years with a human opponent. Laurent looked up to him through his lashes, almost appearing sheepish, and then asked, "I didn't do any lasting damage, did I?"

"Don't worry." It still hurt but Damen was used to the pain. The last months all he did was hurting. "You fight better than I anticipated."

Laurent laughed aloud. "You didn't read my file, did you?"

"I didn’t." Damen could only stare. Laurent was gorgeous. However, when he laughed, he was breathtaking. It almost hurt looking at him.

"Why?" The intense gaze of the blue eyes made his knees weak.  
Damen sighed. "I didn't want to know." 

Laurent didn't ask for more clarification. It was apparent that he had questions, but he refrained from asking them. Damen knew he had to talk to him sooner rather than later, but he didn’t want to be reminded of the whole mess on the very first training of his team together with the new members.

So, he pushed back his concerns and called for Vannes. She stepped up and he realized, that Laurent was better than her at close quarter combat. She was good but he immediately noticed that she was not accustomed to fighting in close quarters.

"Don't try to take me on with brute force, Vannes. You have to outmaneuver me," Damen advised, while he pressed her down on the mat. Then he released her and motioned for her to try again. She nodded and did as he told her. She was a fast learner, very intelligent and although she had no chance, she didn't give up.

Laurent sat beside Nicaise and looked on. The two youngest team members were silent and that surprised Damen. Nicaise never held his opinion back and he was sure the young man had an opinion, if not about Laurent himself, although he seriously doubted that, then about the fact that Laurent was Damen's new partner.

When he pinned Vannes down the next time, he heard Nicaise speak. "You do a better job than his previous partner. You hear me?"

Laurent arched an eyebrow. "Damen already assured me that there are no other brothers available for me to fuck."

"The fucking is not what I am talking about. If you ever think about abandoning him on the battlefield, then keep in mind that whatever might happen on the field is still much better than what I'm going to do to you if you return without him." Nicaise sounded disturbingly nonchalant.

Laurent's eyebrows shut up. "That is what happened? She left him behind?" 

Damen motioned for Vannes to stop and she actually looked relieved. He turned and looked at his partner. Laurent looked angry.

"My brother organized an ambush. He later swore he just wanted to injure me so that he could take over as team leader, but it was clearly an attempt on my life. I wouldn't have believed it, if I hadn't seen how he tried to kill Lazar and Nicaise who came to my rescue. Jokaste…" 

He needed to stop and take a deep breath.  
"Jokaste should have been right behind me but she wasn't. Later on, she admitted that she knew about Kastor's plan."  
"And she didn't warn you." Laurent's eyes were cold like a glacier and hard as steel.

"No. But that is in the past and I can‘t have any of you distracted by it. We need to focus on getting into top form.“

They all nodded and Nicaise stood up to call Kashel over. She smiled indulgently and helped him with a quick warm up before starting to spar with him.

Damen watched his team and tried to calm himself for a long moment. His back hurt like a bitch and his breathing was still elevated. The injury did a thing on him.

Some time later the training session was over, and they all headed to the locker rooms. Damen felt dread rise, but he stomped it down. This was his life, his body, now and he needed to accept what that entailed. 

Laurent and Vannes had already received their locker assignments from Halvik. Laurent was just two over from Damen and they stood side by side while they gathered their things and stripped. 

Damen focused on nothing but the motions he went through. He heard the sharp intake of breath from Pallas first. His teammate was by his side immediately. "Damen, are you sure you are alright?“ The concern in his chocolate eyes was heartbreaking.

"Yes. Thank you. It looks worse than it is because it takes longer for therian inflicted wounds to heal. It will be alright.“ 

Nicaise and Lazar both stared, mouth open and silent. Nik, fortunately, had already seen what Damen‘s back looked like and ushered the others under the shower. "Move it guys. We don‘t have all day.“ He sounded business like and shooed Lazar over. In the end only Laurent and Damen remained. 

Laurent inspected him but there was no pity in his eyes. Only cool calculation and soft understanding. His eyes roamed over Damen‘s exposed back and then he asked, "What did the doctor give you for the healing?“

"A salve. I just struggle with applying it everywhere every three hours. It actually works pretty well, especially because it also has pain medication in it.“

Laurent nodded. "I thought so. I can do it, if you want. When Auguste got his tattoo, I had to do it all the time. But I can understand if you wouldn‘t be comfortable.“  
"No. That would be very helpful. Thank you.“

Laurent smiled, then shoved his pants down his legs and Damen quickly averted his eyes. He let Laurent go first and then followed while strictly thinking about the reports he had to fill out. He calculated the trainings hours he still needed to get back into shape. He thought about the budget for the team. 

Everything but Laurent‘s perfect, naked body. 

He lathered himself up with his shower gel, washed his hair and hurried back out. He didn't want to linger longer than strictly necessary. Otherwise he might start to think about his partner and that was a dangerous route to take.

His teammates waited for him while he got dressed. Laurent was, apparently, the most efficient shower person on the planet because he was the first one dressed. 

Their ear pieces pinged when they left the locker room together and Lykaios informed them that they would go to the canteen for an "after-training-snack.“

None of them were opposed and so the team met up in the canteen. Auguste and his team were there too, and the blond man immediately went to his brother, who stood beside Damen.

"Lauri, how was it? Is everybody nice?“ Auguste hugged his little brother close to his chest and Laurent rolled his eyes.  
"Yes, mom. Everybody is very nice. Lazar even offered to braid my hair while Nikandros will paint my nails.“ 

Damen chuckled while Auguste locked his eyes with Nik‘s. "No funny business with my brother, you hear me?“ Said brother only rolled his eyes.  
Nik only shook his head. "You really know me not at all, do you Auguste?“

The big tiger therian pursed his lips. "What was that? Why shouldn‘t I know you? I thought we were friends.“

"Yes, me too. But for you to think I might have ulterior motives towards your brother does contradict that. First, he is your brother and second, even if he wasn‘t, I prefer my bed-partner to be able to hold their own against me, in and out of bed.“ With that Nik grinned, turned on his heels and got himself a coffee. Auguste gaped and Laurent snickered while Damen was seriously proud of his best friend. 

"Did this really happen just now?“ Auguste sounded so overwhelmed that Damen couldn‘t hold back his laugh.

Laurent patted his brother‘s back. "It did. You better think of an appropriate response. If I were you, I would totally fuck him or let myself be fucked by him, whatever floats your boat. I mean look at that mighty fine ass.“ 

Auguste sighed. "It certainly is. But Nik and I are friends since forever.“ 

Laurent grinned when his brother flushed. "And? Never had a friend with so called benefits? The fact that the other person is a man doesn’t change anything from your normal procedure.“  
"I’m much too sober for this conversation.“ Auguste grimaced and that was Damen’s clue. "How about we go to Bally afterwards?“ 

Immediately Auguste’s eyes lit up and he agreed and said he would bring his team. Laurent raised an eyebrow in question.

"It’s a bar and club close to headquarters. We always go there if we closed a case or if there is something to celebrate or if we had an especially rough day and need alcohol. It’s human and therian friendly and the owner, Kayla is a good friend.“ 

Laurent nodded. "That sounds like fun. Are there pool tables?“  
"Obviously.“

Laurent laughed. "Do you play?“  
"I do. And I am very good.“ Damen grinned and got his coffee while Laurent looked at him with an evil grin in his eyes.

"You are? I am too. What a coincidence. We should ask Auguste and Nikandros to play.“  
Laurent seemed to prefer tea to coffee, he also liked sweet things, as he took one of the pastries displayed. 

Damen catalogued this knowledge away for potential future groveling he had to do and he knew he would have to do some groveling. His former partner never liked how his decisions on the field were pure cold logic and strategy.

When they made their way to their office, Laurent was eyed by the whole of Unit Alpha. Some even ran from their office. They all saw him before but nonetheless the staring was obvious. 

It was even worse than with Jokaste. She, at least, was not new. Laurent smiled politely but kept the conversation with Damen going. As if he knew that the moment, they stopped he would be talked to.

They made it to their office without incident and Damen showed Laurent how their system Themis worked. It was very noticeable how many people suddenly needed something from him. 

Laurent smirked when Damen, now exasperated, shooed the next agent out of the room. "I take it, you aren‘t normally quite so asked after?“  
"No. I am not.“ 

Damen couldn‘t really fault them. Laurent was striking. His eyes sparkled and those lips- Damen realized he stared. He quickly averted his gaze. This was not good. 

"Now, then. Damianos, strip.“ Laurent didn‘t even look at him when he said it and Damen gaped at him.  
"Pardon?“

Now Laurent raised his eyes. The glint in them told Damen that he knew exactly what he was doing to him. "Get your upper half naked. I can‘t really treat your back with your clothes on, can I?“

"You can‘t... That was misleading. Laurent, you can‘t say these things with such a straight face to me.“ Damen threw his hands up.  
"Believe me, darling, nothing about me is straight.“ The blond man smiled and got up from his desk. 

Damen couldn‘t believe it. Laurent would be his death. 

At least he was not straight. 

Damen needed to stop. He just couldn‘t fuck his next partner after what happened with the last one.

Slowly he stood and shed the upper part of his uniform. He could practically feel Laurent‘s eyes on him. His partner stared with a very complicated expression on his face at his naked upper body. 

Damen grinned. "Like what you see?“ Flirting with Laurent was too easy, it was almost as if the sparks flew between them without either of them trying.

"Yes, in fact I do.“ Laurent dragged his gaze back up to his face and added: "I like everything very much.“ 

Damen thought his heart would beat out of his chest. How could Laurent be so fucking honest. 

Then his partner stood, took the salve and placed Damen on the gymnastic ball that had helped him with his recovery. The lion therian felt a bit self-conscious about his marred back.  
But his partner was unrelenting when he turned Damen around. 

Laurent sat in Damen‘s office chair and started to cover his‘s back in the cool salve. His hands were careful and tender. Damen felt some of the tension leaving his muscles. He was prepared for pain, but Laurent touched him as if he was made out of glass. 

"You know, I think your scars show a lot of your strength. I know it was probably the worst moment of your life when you received them and their sight won‘t be a welcome one for you for a long time but I think you have nothing to be ashamed of." 

"You made it through betrayal, hurt and heartache and you came out of it stronger. Not a lot of people can say that about themselves.“ Laurent‘s voice was soft and almost as careful as his fingers. 

Damen felt the last tension drain away, he buried his face in his hands. Laurent still worked on his back. "He is my brother. And he wanted to kill me, over a job.“  
"Yes.“ 

The silence fell over them. There was nothing else to say, but the quiet strength of his partner helped Damen back out of the muddy thoughts. He realized that Laurent‘s hand hadn‘t stopped touching his back and he was surprised, his muscles tensed again.

"I apologize.“ Laurent removed his hands, Damen missed his touch immediately. Nobody wanted to touch his back, most likely because they were scared of hurting him. "No, it‘s fine.“ It was strange to not be touched, Damen realized, because he was a person who bloomed through interaction with others and that included touches as well. 

Through the day Laurent treated his back two more times, he was always careful, and he never shied away. 

When, by the second time, he wanted to pull back as soon as the salve was applied, Damen stopped him. "If you don’t mind, could you do what you did the first time? It felt good to have somebody else touching them. I can’t bring myself to do it and most other people seem to be afraid of it.“ Laurent nodded and continued touching Damen’s back for some more minutes. 

They bonded pretty fast after that. Laurent had a biting humor, didn't mince his words and was so smart, Damen sometimes felt, as if he was left behind. But whenever that happened, Laurent seemed to know, and he immediately tracked back some steps without breaking the flow of their work. 

He was the most intelligent person Damen had ever met and that meant something. The THIRDS were no place for stupidity, but Laurent was in a league of his own. He seemed to know everything. 

It was hot and Damen was in a constant state of subliminal arousal. Laurent's looks were deadly on their own but paired with his wit and sarcasm, Damen thought he would combust right there.

He actually felt more excited over a conversation with Laurent than half of the sex he had in his life. The thrill left him breathless and wanting more. It didn't help that Laurent seemed just as attracted towards him. 

He almost dragged the blond man over the pushed together desks and kissed him right there. 

The third time Laurent treated his back, Damen explained that he couldn’t touch the scars because he always felt close to a panic attack whenever he did. Laurent nodded and said: "That is not uncommon. Just tell me what you want and I will do it.“ 

Damen could imagine one or two things he wanted Laurent to do but he bit his lips and kept quiet.


	2. But there's so much more I wanna know

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear readers. Here is the new chapter. I am sorry for all typos and other mistakes but I wrote this instead of sleeping and was too tired to proof-read it with as much care as I should have.   
> I hope you have fun anyway and I look forward to your thoughts on the chapter if you want to share them.

In the evening they made their way to Bally. Inside Kayla greeted them with a cheer. She hugged Damen close and kissed his cheek. „Welcome back, Damen. You didn't show your face for too long.“  
"I am sorry."

She smiled, hugged him close again and patted his head. She was a tiny woman. Only reaching up to his breastbone although she wore high heels. Her dark hair, ample curves and flirty nature gave her the image of a seductress. 

But nothing could be farther from the truth. She and her husband were together since they started high school and Damen rarely saw a pair happier to be together than the two of them.

"Now, I heard you have a new partner. Auguste told me he is his little brother. Introduce us."  
Damen tugged Laurent towards him and introduced the two of them. 

Kayla's eyes went wide. She looked between the two of them back and forth. Then she grinned and took Laurent's arm to drag him to the bar. 

"Kayla, sweetheart, can I get a beer?" Lazar called for her and she grinned. "For you, sexy, always." She deposited Laurent beside Auguste and Damen sat down on his other side. 

He was surprised to see Jord hug him. Auguste's human partner must have known him for a long time, as their familiarity wasn't forced and they joked like long lost friends.

Damen leaned against the bar while Kayla did provide his teammates with drinks and snacks. He had missed this. For the first time in months his team appeared to be almost back to their old selves. 

Nik bumped his shoulder with his own and sipped on his beer. "Are you alright?"  
"Yes." Damen smiled and drank his water. 

"How are things with Laurent?" Nik sounded curious and also a bit worried.  
"We know each other for a day, Nik. I like him."  
Nikandros snorted. "Damen, you can't fool me. You are infatuated with him." 

And that was Damen's turn to tease. "Well, I'm not the only one infatuated with one of the Leblanc brothers, am I?"  
"No. You are not." This was surprising. Nik never admitted to his attraction before. 

"What happened?"   
The other therian shrugged and took a deep swing of his beer. 

"When you were unconscious in the hospital and we didn't know if you would make it, he was there. You are my best friend, Damen. I know you like nobody else does. I was so terrified to lose you. Auguste ran inside, still dirty and with a gash in his upper arm that still bled, he came directly from the field. He saw us sitting there and then he hugged me close and told me that everything would work out just fine, that you would be okay because you are a stubborn asshole." 

Nik laughed, it sounded a bit wet and Damen slung his arm around his best friends shoulder.  
"Thank you for always being there, Nik."

"Don't get sappy. I am not here to discuss my feelings with you. I need to get drunk and you will let me."  
"Sure, bro. Whatever you want." Damen grinned and ordered a round of shots of his friend. 

Then he remembered Laurent's devious plan. He stood and grinned brightly. "Come on, Nik. How about I kick your ass at pool." Nikandros rolled his eyes. "Do I have a choice?"

"No." Damen threw Laurent a look and his partner immediately sat up straighter. "How about we team up, partner?" 

"Sure Leblanc. But if you drag me down, you have to buy me coffee for the next month." Laurent smirked. "You've got yourself a deal, Vallis.“  
He stood and turned to his brother. "Come on, you have to get crushed by me and Damen."

Auguste raised an eyebrow and looked to Nik. "We won't go down so easily." He stood and they all made their way over to the pool table. Damen started.

Laurent couldn't help himself, when his partner bent over the pool table to take his shot, his eyes were drawn to the sexy ass that was so deliciously displayed. 

Yes, Damianos was a fine specimen of therian. The big lion therian embodied everything Laurent found attractive in another person. 

When he came back up, the light of the bar reflected in his therian eyes. They almost seemed to glow. Obviously, Laurent knew that was bullshit, therians just had the tapetum lucidum behind their retinas.   
Also the reason why they saw so much better in the dark than humans did and the main reason why it didn’t make sense to try and run from them. 

Damen’s eyes were mesmerizing, Laurent really wanted to tilt his head in every direction to see what they would look like under different angles.

He really needed to stop thinking about his partner and focus on his brother, who was being an idiot once again. Nikandros was very handsome, he was almost as tall and muscular as Damen. 

His longer hair was secured in a tight knot on the back of his head and his t-shirt stretched deliciously over his defined chest. Auguste, who was just as tall and built, stubbornly stared at the floor until Laurent rammed his elbow in his ribs.

"You are being stupid, Auguste."  
"What? Why?" He looked seriously confused. His blue eyes wide and innocent. Laurent sighed. His brother was intelligent but now he really pretended to be the blond that made an appearance in all the blonde jokes.

"Because you are obviously attracted to Nikandros and you ignore it."  
Auguste looked over, where Nik teased Damen about something. Then he bent over to take his shoot. "No. I don't ignore it. Lauri, you don't understand."

Laurent searched his brother's face and then it hit him. "Gods, Auguste, you like him. You don't want to only fuck him, you want to make love to him. I can't believe you." Auguste grimaced. "You really need to stop talking like that. I taught you better."

"You can't distract me, brother. If you like him you should pursue him, what holds you back?"  
"Nothing. I just… I don't know if…" Auguste fixated Nikandros, who looked up just then and smiled a crocked grin. 

Laurent nudged his brother. "I think you need to stop freaking out and grow a pair."

When it was Auguste's turn, Laurent went to Damen. "If we win this thing, I will buy you coffee for two weeks and fill out your reports."   
"Already bribing the team leader on your first day?“

Laurent only shrugged his shoulders, unapologetic and Damen laughed. The dimples in his cheeks looked so kissable. "Then I better step my game up, don't I?" he joked and dragged one hand through his curls.   
Laurent would have loved to do that himself but he shook himself out of it. It was funny to see the focused look slip on his face, when there was just playful challenge before. 

Obviously, Damen and Laurent destroyed Nik and Auguste. Damen was on it with a single minded determination, that was sexy as hell. Laurent couldn't take his eyes off of him.

"You cheated, Leblanc.“ Nik accused Laurent when the game ended.   
"And how did I cheat?" Laurent raised an eyebrow in challenge.   
"You obviously motivated Damen somehow. He never plays so focused. What did you tell him?"

"He buys me coffee and does my reports. For two weeks." Damen grinned happily and Nik groaned. "I can't believe you. You are much too easy, betraying your best friend over some coffee." 

"You forgot the paperwork, Nik,“ Damen reminded his best friend and Auguste threw his head back and laughed. Laurent observed the way Nik’s eyes traveled down Auguste’s neck while he laughed. His eyes were dark and intense. 

Whatever Auguste was afraid of, Nik obviously had no such qualms. He looked two seconds away from pinning the blond tiger therian against the next wall and kissing him out of his mind. 

His brother noticed nothing and said with a grin, „what I wouldn’t give for someone to help me with my paperwork.“ As team leaders they always had to fill out the biggest chunk of forms and reports and whatever not. 

Laurent had heard his older brother complain at multiple instances about this part of his job although he loved everything else. Nik brusquely tore his gaze away and downed the rest of his beer. 

They played another round and this time, when Damen and Laurent won again, Nik only shook his head. "Auguste, how come your little brother plays better than you?“

Auguste only grinned and slung one arm around Laurent’s shoulders. "Laurent is better than me at almost everything“, he stated proudly and Laurent only rolled his eyes. "That’s not true, I know many activities where you would beat me immediately.“

Nik raised both eyebrows. "Let’s hear.“  
Laurent grinned, his gaze found his brother’s and the two of them seemed to have a conversation with just their eyes. Then the younger one only sighed. "He doesn’t want me to tell you the most hilarious one.“

Now, this seemed to get Nik’s attention. He unfolded his arms and stepped closer to the brothers. "What do I have to do to get the information anyway?“

Laurent could observe how Auguste gulped and actually flushed. Nik stepped even closer and then tilted his head to the side. "Come on, Auguste, don’t be a killjoy. Tell me.“

Auguste wanted to step back, but Laurent’s arm around his waist held him in place. "Yes, Auguste. Don’t be a killjoy. Tell Nik about your title of honor.“ He grinned deviously, this had to work. 

Nik’s eyes were so dark, they almost appeared black and Auguste was so flustered, he actually stuttered. "I- well- I- really- really shouldn’t.“

Laurent almost laughed. "I could tell him.“   
"No!“ Auguste looked horrified and actually clapped a hand over his little brother’s mouth. Laurent rolled his eyes again and now Nik grinned. "I will get the information sooner or later, Auguste. Either you tell me now or you force me to dig.“ 

Auguste opened his mouth and then closed it with a click, at least he took the hand from Laurent’s mouth. It was hilarious. The story was hilarious too but Laurent understood why his brother didn’t want his crush to know about his title of honor. 

Nik came to the conclusion that Auguste wouldn’t tell him. He smirked, patted the tiger therian’s chest and said, "well then, just remember you left me no choice.“ 

Auguste was so out of it, he only nodded, a bit dazed. Nik turned around and went to the bar. Damen, who had looked on in silent amusement, came over and dragged the brothers behind Nik to the bar.

They sat back down, where Lazar was all over Pallas. The younger man laughed, while he tried to ward off the wandering hands of his teammate. Although he didn't look put off at all.

"You are far too drunk for me to take anything you say seriously, Lazar", he said and Lazar shook his head. 

"I am not too drunk to differentiate between your ass and everybody else's. Yours is perfection while everybody else's is just mediocre. Except maybe Laurent's, did you see how he bent over the table? I thought half of the bar's occupants would get a heart attack."

Pallas laughed again. "I saw. You were one of them. Tell me again when you are sober."   
Lazar whined. "But why?" He stood up and needed to balance himself with a hand to Pallas' shoulder. 

Laurent watched on in amusement, when Pallas stood too, he was taller than Lazar by maybe two inches and burlier. The dark haired man wrapped his arm around Lazar's middle, to steady him and shook his head fondly. "I will take you home. You will regret this tomorrow."

„I could never regret a second of my life in your company, sugar.“ Lazar batted his eyelashes at Pallas who chuckled, and directed his gaze to Damen.

„I‘m taking this one home. Have fun.“ Damen nodded and waved them away. He could only shake his head in exasperation.   
Laurent beside him laughed. „Are they always all over each other?“

Damen grinned down at him. „More like Lazar is always all over Pallas. I think Pallas thinks he is joking.“  
„But he isn‘t?“

Damen shook his head. "No. Lazar might be a flirt and a Casanova but he is actually serious about Pallas. He almost tore Ancel to shreds when he flirted with Pallas at the last Christmas party and almost succeeded in getting Pallas into bed.“

Laurent raised an eyebrow. "Interesting. Why does Pallas believe Lazar to be unhanded in his affections?“  
"Because Lazar flirts with everything that has a heartbeat and not long ago he was also known for screwing them only minutes later.“ 

His partner grinned. "Interesting.“   
He drank his whiskey, his eyes wandering over the bar and Damen could see that there were a lot of people watching him. Laurent didn‘t smile at them, he just let his gaze travel over their heads and then focused back at Damen.

"Since when do you work with the THIRDS?“  
"I was fourteen when I started the training. My mother died that year and my father and brother both were already with the THIRDS. I had the choice of sitting at home alone or starting the training. As you can guess, I picked training. It helped me over the heartache." He took another sip of his water.

"Neither my father nor my brother are people known to show a lot of emotions. I felt as if I was the only one mourning the loss and that was an awful feeling. Kastor told me I was weak and not fit for the THIRDS when he caught me crying after the funeral. I only wanted to be able to take him on and show him that crying over the loss of a mother isn‘t a sign of weakness." He still felt the hurt over his brother's betrayal but the time had shown him, that it wasn't as surprising as he might have thought it was.

"When I shot up with fifteen and started to build up muscles, he was the only one surprised. After I was admitted to the Thirds and got my own team with seventeen my father told me he was proud of me for the first time in my life. However, I wouldn‘t change anything that has happened to me up to this point. I have a great team and I love my job. We can make a difference and that is everything I want. People like Kayla shouldn‘t have to worry if their bar will be lit up in flames only because they are therian friendly.“ Damen shrugged and smiled at his friend, who joked with Auguste and prepared drinks in parallel.

Laurent‘s eyes didn‘t stray from his face. His gaze was so intense that Damen turned his head and stared back. What he saw in the blue eyes of his partner was more than just interest or pity. Laurent looked at him with disbelief, anger, admiration and something else he couldn‘t pinpoint yet in his eyes. 

"You know, Auguste talks a lot about you since I started training with the THIRDS. Maybe the reason for that is that you and your team hit the news most often when he is involved too. But I always thought he was exaggerating.“

"Exaggerating?“  
"How kind you are, Damianos.“ Laurent picked up the whiskey his brother had before him and downed that too. "He obviously didn‘t and I don‘t know how to handle kind people very well.“  
"You handle your brother just fine.“

"Yes, but he knows me since I was born. My quips and sarcasm don‘t scare him.“ Laurent stared sullenly at the bar top while Auguste realized that his whiskey was gone. He rolled his eyes and took Nik‘s beer out of his hand to take a sip. 

Laurent couldn‘t keep himself from stealing a glance at the lion therian when he turned his head from his conversation with Vannes and saw Auguste with the bottle to his lips. 

Nik gulped once while his eyes darkened. Then he closed them, took a deep breath and turned his head back to Vannes without saying a word. Auguste grinned triumphantly and nipped at the beer. 

Damen chuckled beside him. "If they ever fuck I am sure Auguste will pay for this exact moment.“ Apparently he had witnessed the scene with as much interest as Laurent. 

"I think he won‘t mind that very much.“   
"Yeah, you might be right. But back to the topic at hand. I am not afraid of sarcasm. Nik is my best friend since childhood and he is a sassy princess 75% of his time.“

Laurent was so surprised he laughed. He looked up to see Damen already looking down and saw the sincere conviction in his face. "Then I will take your word for it. I will try to tone down my assholeness around you.“

"Don‘t mind me, that might be entertaining. I would like to know more about you.“ Damen grinned and turned around to face the big jaguar therian that had apparently crept closer to them while they spoke. "How can I help you?“ 

Laurent hadn‘t realized they had company and he was seriously surprised for a second until he remembered that Damen was a trained, therian Thirds officer with more than 15 years of experience. The jaguar therian was obviously a civilian because the surprise was written all over his face. 

But he found his footing again and turned to Damen with a sneer. "You can‘t help me at all, brute, but your human friend might be able to help me.“ 

Laurent looked him once over then he raised an eyebrow in a clear gesture that he had measured the guy up and found him lacking. He felt Auguste tense beside him and that got Nikandros‘ attention immediately.

"And how might I be able to help you?“ Laurent knew his face was blank, his eyes cooler than the glaciers in the Swiss alps and his posture indicated his disinterest.  
"I wondered if you would join me for a drink over there.“

Laurent felt a smile tug at his lips but it was not sweet or happy, it was sharp and mocking. "Thank you for your invitation but I have to politely decline.“ 

The guy looked a bit unsure until Laurent turned back around. Then he caught his arm and said, "Why? I assure you, I can fulfill your every desire. I could show you what a real therian is capable of.“ He was leering. 

Laurent stared him down and then he laughed. "I don‘t think anything about you could fulfill any of my desires. I was being nice because today was actually a good day. But I don‘t appreciate people who can‘t take a no for what it is."

"I had my fair share of real therians that wanted to show me what they are capable of and it was disappointing every single time. I know you won‘t be the exception. I like my men big and muscular and capable of fucking me into the mattress for hours." He felt Damen's eyes burning in the back of his head.

"Your elevated breathing, the color of your eye-white and the circumference of your belly all indicate that you won‘t be able to measure up to my standards. I suggest you stop drinking and eating in such an unhealthy manner and start exercising. I am no professional but I am sure my teammate would provide you with a second opinion. He is a trained medical agent. And now excuse me. I would prefer to drink in peace.“ 

Laurent faced the bar again where a whiskey waited for him. Auguste sighed and turned around when the man behind them got even closer. He stood up to his full height and stared the jaguar therian down. "You heard my brother, didn‘t you?“ 

One look at the tattoo on Auguste’s neck and the guy was scrambling away. Laurent snorted. "I have no idea why they never listen to me.“  
Auguste growled angrily. "Me neither. You just have a pull on such guys, Laurent.“

"And that is exactly the reason why you always insist on coming with me when I go out.“  
"No. That is because I love spending time with you.“ Auguste leaned over and mused Laurent‘s hair. 

Damen on his other side was silent, his hand tight around his water and when his eyes met Laurent‘s they were stormy. The honey colored specks in them swirling. 

"Everything alright, Damen?“ Laurent asked, still staring into Damen‘s eyes trying to get a read.  
"Yes. Everything is fine. I just need to get back home. My back is acting up.“ Damen smiled tightly and Laurent crooked his head. "You sure? Should I drive you?“

"No. It‘s fine.“   
Nik stood too and smiled at Laurent. "I will accompany you, Damen.“ The other man nodded and with a quick goodbye to the rest of the team they left the bar. 

Laurent was confused and Auguste shrugged. "They live right next to each other.“ Laurent smiled fondly. "Just like us.“

"Yes. I think Damen is worried and was confused because it‘s entirely too early in the game to already be worried about you.“  
Laurent brooded over this information for quite some time until he decided he wanted to get a good nights sleep and stood up. Immediately Auguste was by his side and together they took their leave. 

"You know, it‘s no crime to fall for your friend or a man.“ Laurent looked at his brother who sat beside him in the Uber. "Nobody cares anymore.“

"Yes, and isn‘t it just hypocritical of people to forget their bigotry towards other humans because now they can hate therians? Not that I think bigotry should be accepted but to just transfer their hate to therians isn‘t right either.“

"Preaching to the choir, Auguste. I know better than anyone how idiotic all these accusations towards therians are. People seriously need to get a grip.“ Laurent scowled. Auguste nodded. 

"However, you can‘t distract me. Are you really unsure because Nik is a man?“  
"Gods no! No, how can you think that?“ Auguste looked horrified. His eyes were wide and he took Laurent‘s shoulders in a tight grip. 

"You love whoever you love. I would never- Lauri, do you really think-?“ He trailed off. Laurent smiled and shook his head. "No. You completely misunderstood. What I meant was that maybe you are nervous because you never slept with a man before?“

Auguste let out a deep breath and sat back i. his seat. Laurent caught the eye of the Uber driver. The man smiled softly and focused on the street.   
"That‘s not it.“  
"What is it then? Auguste, it‘s obvious you want him.“  
"Yes, but he doesn‘t want me and I really like spending time with him.“

Laurent burst into laughter. "You seriously think he doesn‘t want you? Auguste, the guy almost pinned you to the closest wall while arguing in the bar.“

Auguste raised an eyebrow in typical Leblanc manner and just shook his head. "He never even hinted at something more.“  
"He is from Ios. They are not as open.“  
"Laurent, just leave it.“ Auguste dragged one hand through his hair. 

It grew longer again and almost brushed his shoulders now. Laurent drew his brother into his arms. It was a bit awkward with the seatbelts, but both of them took comfort in the embrace nonetheless. 

"You want to sleep over at my place?“ Laurent asked and Auguste just nodded.   
They arrived at the apartment complex and went to cuddle in Laurent‘s bed. 

"I saw how you look at Damen. Laurent, are you serious about him?“  
"I don‘t know, Auguste. Contrary to you I know him for only a day. I can assure you that I will tell you if I have a definitive answer.“  
"Good.“ Auguste lay on his back and stared up at the ceiling.

"Are you planning on growing your hair out?“ Laurent’s change of topic to something lighter was appreciated by his brother who smiled at him.   
"I thought about it. I always wanted to try it. And since there is no girlfriend trying to change my looks, I could do it.“

"Did I ever tell you I didn‘t like your girlfriends all that much?“  
"Yes, Lauri, you never kept your opinion of them to yourself. But you were right every single time so I can‘t even be angry about it.“ Auguste sighed and Laurent laughed softly. 

"They always wanted to change something about you. But you are amazing, one of the best men I know. I don‘t see what needs to be changed about you.“

"Well, Gina thought I was too naive, Carol thought I needed distance myself from you and stop doting on you, Genevieve wanted me to be a bit more settled and introverted, Kristina thought I was a workaholic and didn‘t like it, Janna thought I had a hero complex, Yoko thought I had a brother complex, Isabelle hated you and thus thought I should break all ties with you- If I reflect on it, most of them either hated how close we two are, my personality or how much I love my job. I have horrible tastes.“

"They were all rather pretty.“  
"Haha. You are really funny.“ Auguste rolled over and started tickling Laurent. He only stopped when the younger brother wheezed for air and begged for mercy. 

"Sleep now Lauri. We have an early start tomorrow.“


	3. Like everything about you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear readers, here is the newest chapter! I hope you like it. Have fun and stay safe.

The day after, he came to the office, where a muffin and a cup of tea waited from him. He raised his eyebrows at Damen. "Is that from you?“  
"Yes.“

"Thank you very much.“ Laurent couldn’t handle situations like that very well. Normally, people weren't nice just because and he hated people who tried to soften him up. But he also knew that Damen was not the type of person to do that.

"It’s a blueberry muffin. I hope you like it. If you don’t, tell me, I’ll bring you others next time. This bakery right down the street from my place makes the best muffins in town,“ Damen explained. 

He used his hands while he spoke and Laurent was utterly infatuated. He couldn’t use another word. Whenever Damen started talking, he was entranced and couldn’t tear his gaze away. 

"No. I actually like all muffins. I don’t discriminate.“   
Damen chuckled. "Good to know. An admirable trait. I wish more people would think like you.“

"Yes. Me too. They don’t know what they miss with all these muffins they will never try.“ Laurent smiled and started peeling the wrapping paper away.

"That’s true.“ Damen watched him with a smile on his lips and Laurent offered him half of the muffin. "No, thank you. I prefer salty to sweet and I try to not indulge anymore. The last months were one big self-pity parade. I need to get back in shape and this means no unnecessary sugar for me.“

"Well, a pity your tastes are less than average, but nobody’s perfect, am I right?“ He munched on the sweet pastry and Damen only shook his head in amusement. "You are not aware of how insidious the sugar is killing you.“

"Oh, did you eat a dictionary for breakfast because you had to forgo all these unhealthy but mouth-watering options? And contrary to your assumption, I know how insidious the sugar is killing me and chose to ignore it.“ 

Laurent grinned and took a sip of his tea. There came a knock and then the door swung open to reveal Torveld standing there. He smiled at them and came to hand Damen a report. 

"I need your signature for the arrest from last week. Good morning by the way. Good morning, agent Leblanc.“  
"Good morning, agent…“ The blond man stood and looked at Torveld a bit confused. The man didn't wear his uniform jacket so there was no name-tag.

"Roche, but please, call me Torveld.“  
"Good morning, Torveld. I’m Laurent, but I am sure you already knew that.“

Torveld chuckled and shook Laurent’s hand. His grip was firm and he looked Laurent straight in the eyes. "Yes, to be honest, I think nobody in the whole building doesn’t know your name by now.“

Damen stood too and handed Torveld the report back. "You didn’t have to come personally, Torveld. I know you are busy.“

"Not as busy as you, with the new team members, the new partner and your injury, there has to be a lot for you to do.“  
Laurent couldn’t pinpoint it, but he had the feeling that some kind of challenge was voiced. 

Damen only smiled brightly, his dimples deepening and he replied, "as you can imagine, I love the challenge.“  
Torveld only nodded and then left the office with a quick goodbye. 

Laurent directed his questioning gaze to Damen. "What was that?“  
"I have no idea what you are talking about.“ Damen sat down in his chair and busied himself with another report.

"Don’t try to fool me, Damen. I am no idiot, whatever you might believe.“

"I didn’t want to suggest you were dense. I just can’t explain it myself. Torveld is always a bit on edge when I am present. I have no idea why that is. Maybe because we are very similar in a lot of ways.“ Damen looked up again and shrugged. 

Laurent couldn’t really see the similarities but maybe the reason for that was that he wanted to climb Damen like a tree and Torveld didn’t even cause a flutter in his stomach. "You are?“

"We have common tastes.“  
"And what would these be?“ 

Damen looked uncomfortable. He dragged one hand through his curls, stared at the table top, and avoided Laurent’s eyes altogether. "We drive the same car.“

"That is no reason for you to look so uncomfortable. What is it?“ Laurent wouldn't let it go. 

Damen seemed to realize that too. He sighed long-suffering.  
"We might have similar tastes in bed-partners? Well, as long as one gender is concerned.“

"Interesting. So, Torveld likes the same type of guy as you?“ Laurent took the salve out of the drawer and motioned for Damen to relocate to the gymnastic ball. "Strip.“

"Yes, yes, Jesus.“ Now Damen looked flustered and Laurent took a lot of satisfaction from that fact. He smirked when his partner stripped out of the jacket and undershirt and sat on the ball with his naked back turned towards Laurent.

"Yes.“ Damen finally responded. "He does limit himself to men.“  
"Me too, funny, there is also a similarity.“ Laurent remarked while he applied the salve. 

He was as careful as he could be, knowing that the skin had to be tender. At least, Damen’s occasional winces indicated that. "And what type of man are we talking about?“

Damen sighed. "Really? Are we now talking about preferences?“

"You already know mine, don’t you? It’s only fair if you share. I will find out anyway.“ Laurent was really curious. He knew Damen found him attractive but he didn’t know if he fit in with his typical conquests. 

"True. To be honest, you are the embodiment of our type.“  
"Cute, how you talk about 'your' type. As if you are the bestest of friends,“ Laurent teased. He felt a bit like back in kindergarten. "You ever had problems because of that shared type?“ 

He tried hard to ignore the satisfaction that washed over him at Damen’s words. He was just happy that his partner had his back turned to him. 

It was really hard to classify what he felt towards Damen. He knew the man for only two days and yet, he already liked him more than most people he knew for far longer. 

He could see himself trusting this big therian with his life and his secrets. Something he wasn’t in the habit of doing. 

His eyes fell onto the edge of the tattoo on Damen‘s skin. The lion classification was inked in black on the left side of his neck, the three letters ‚FPL’ a stark contrast to his otherwise smooth skin.

"No, not yet.“ He was almost startled when Damen finally answered his question.  
Laurent let it go and finished with Damen’s back. 

He stood up and rolled his chair back behind his desk. He changed topics, the 'yet‘ floating in the air between them. For a short moment they stared into each other‘s eyes.

"You shouldn’t even be here, I promised to finish your paperwork, didn’t I?“

Damen grinned. "How could I ever forget? I assigned the latest reports to you, have fun with them. But to be honest, I couldn’t sleep anymore. And I thought it would be better to come back here than laying in my bed and brood.“

"Wise decision.“ Laurent started up his desk interface, opened Themis and true to Damen’s words, there were approximately ten new reports. He smiled and started with one of the reports straight away. 

His nerd heart had admittedly beat a bit faster when he had seen the high tech equipment the day before. No screens to block his view of his partner, but a one meter big touchable surface integrated in the top of his table. 

He could tilt the touchable area, so that he didn’t have to stare straight down for hours and if he wanted, he could open Themis on the laptop he got for work. It was heaven.

"If you need help, I am here. I need to calculate the budget for the next half year anyway.“   
"Thank you.“ 

They worked for some time in silence, Laurent sneaking the occasional peek in Damen’s direction. He realized that his partner did a lot more staring and, most importantly, much less sneaky than him. 

"I heard we have a bonding class together?“ He asked the next time he looked up only to find Damen already watching him.

"Yes. I pushed it back for two months. I think it’s not the most efficient to do it too early on in a partnership and the requirement only states, that it needs to be done in the first nine months of a partnership.“

Laurent nodded. "You already went there at least once, didn’t you?“  
"Yes. I was there twice. My first partner transferred to Recon after the children, didn’t need the action quite so close anymore. Then came Jokaste and you already know how that ended.“

"If you don’t mind me asking, how was your partnership?“ Laurent studied Damen closely when he posed the question. He saw the wince, the pain and almost regretted asking but then Damen squared his shoulders and gave him a self-deprecating smile.

"I think she wasn’t really made for the job. She was capable, no questions asked there, but she was ruthless, couldn’t empathize with others and she didn’t make any effort to understand therians and their differences to humans. This had a lot of impact on our partnership, as you can imagine."

"Your brother is a larger felid, your parents are big names in the equal rights movement and you grew up with the knowledge that therians might look like humans most of the time but that they are not human. She came from a purely human family, against their will to work with the THIRDS. She never understood and she never tried to understand.“

Laurent leaned back in his chair and observed how Damen balled his hands on the surface of his table. He met Laurent’s gaze. "I struggled sometimes. The bonding class was a catastrophe. She hated it and we needed to start at the beginning quite often.“

"I think it’s funny how humans struggle to accept therians as their own species. We do our best to differentiate us from you, we mark you, for heavens sake, but still, most can’t accept that humans and therians are not the same with the only difference of you shifting.“ Laurent felt the anger rise in him as he said it. 

He always struggled with the thought of marking others like property. As if someone had the right to decide that therians needed to be branded. 

Damen smiled at him. "That conversation, for example, wouldn’t have been possible with Jokaste. She hated talking about the differences of humans and therians. She preferred to pretend that there weren’t any. In the end, I think it’s better for her that she got out. She was uncomfortable most of the time spent at work, or at home, if I am honest.“

"You lived together?“  
"No. And we didn’t spend so much time together outside of work.“ He sounded so pained, Laurent stopped pushing. He changed topics to the day to day business and could see how Damen visibly relaxed. 

Pallas came over some time later to report about Lykaios’ and Isander’s improvements in training and Damen looked very pleased. 

Laurent was grateful the large tiger therian could defuse the last remaining tension that lingered since their talk about Jokaste.

"I’m going to get a coffee, you want to come too?“ Pallas looked at them expectantly.  
"Sure. Laurent?“

"Yes, one second, I need to save, otherwise all my hard work will be for naught.“  
Damen grinned. "Yeah, that would be a real shame. My beautiful reports would be gone.“

"Your reports? I already asked myself why Laurent typed like a maniac. He started yesterday. How come he has so much to do?“  
"Well, he kindly took over some reports from me.“ Damen grinned and patted Laurent’s back, when he got up. 

"Because I needed to motivate you somehow to utterly defeat Auguste and Nikandros.“  
"You still need to explain to me how that helped in your bigger scheme of things.“

Laurent shrugged. "I just wanted to see how serious Auguste was.“  
"And how did you get this information from a pool game?“ Damen asked while all three of them stepped into an elevator. 

"I needed to see what was more important, the game or Nik‘s butt. The results of yesterday evening do give you your answer.“ Laurent smirked. "You and I both know it wouldn‘t have been that easy if they didn‘t ogle each other whenever they had the opportunity.“

Pallas laughed. "I am so relieved that someone finally caught on to them that is not Damen. He is much too nice to push them but it was almost painful watching them struggle. Nik would have pushed Auguste up against a wall long ago, if he wasn‘t so caught up with Damen almost dying.“

"Wow. Thank you for your boost in confidence, pal.“ Damen crosses his arms before his chest. "I could push them, if I thought it would work out. But isn‘t it their own decision when and if they want to pursue a relationship?“

Pallas looked at Laurent, exasperated. "See? He is much too nice!“  
Laurent chuckled. He patted Damen‘s chest and said: "Don‘t worry partner, I will see to it.“

"I don't know if this should worry me more or reassure me." Damen looked down at Laurent, their eyes locked and the blond man again felt the rush of excitement. He smiled. "You will find out."

Damen grinned back. "Yes, that is certainly true. Just don't drag me into it. After Jokaste, my reputation has suffered enough with Nik and your brother is terrifying to be honest. He looks like this sunshiny, nice person, but deep down he is evil. I tell you, he can be just as ruthless as any of us, if he has to be."

Pallas looked skeptical. "Auguste? We are talking about the same person, aren't we? The guy, who stops jogging to pick up a snail from the sidewalk to place it on the meadow?"

"He still does that, doesn't he? When I was younger, he would walk me to school. We were late for some days until my mother found out and sent us out early."

Damen laughed. "He made you come late to school because he needed to save snails?"

"Nobody else would save them, that's what he told me and my teacher, when she asked. She was so charmed by him, that she didn't even reprimand us. It certainly helped, that he was almost her age and looked like a brick wall even before applying to the THIRDS. As you can imagine, I wasn't really happy with the perspective of haveing to share Auguste with my teacher of all people so I told him, that he couldn't kiss her because I seriously would make his life hell if he ever did."

"And did he?"  
"I don't know. He never did when I was present."

They stepped into the canteen and saw Auguste and Jord in a heated debate. "Laurent!", they both exclaimed as soon as they saw him.  
"What?"

"Wow. Nice greetings, little brother. But anyway, please tell Jord that I am relationship material," Auguste whined and gesticulated towards his partner.

"What?" Laurent had a feeling that his tone couldn't get any flatter than it was.

"Laurent, you are the reasonable one in the family, and I am sure you will agree with me, after I explain the situation." Jord greeted Damen and Pallas with a cursory, "Good morning", and then elaborated. 

"We talked about how happy Berenger and Ancel are since the later got his head out of his ass and stopped being a slut and started being sickly sweet in love with the former."

Laurent nodded. He had met Auguste's team only briefly, but he knew all about them. His brother had told him everything and thus he was almost live on the scene when the relationship drama between those two went down.

"And then I told him, that for some of us a happy ever after isn't meant to be." He was also almost live on the scene when Aimeric broke Jord's heart and turned him into a pessimist. He suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. 

"What caused him to freak out and tell me that he certainly is relationship material and he would totally get his sickly sweet happily ever-after."

Laurent smiled at his brother. Auguste had so much love to give and people loved him for that alone, but nobody would stick by his side long enough to see how much love he actually had to give. 

His job caused a rift long before and if it wasn't the job that drove them apart, then it was his relationship with Laurent, that most of his girlfriends were jealous of. 

But Auguste actually WAS the relationship kind of guy. He wasn't one for one-nightstands or short-lived flings. Although he had his fair share of them.

"Well, it might be true that I am the reasonable and intelligent one, by the way, in the family, but I have to agree with Auguste. He is relationship material through and through. He only lacked the right person until now."

"Thank you, Lauri." Auguste embraced him tightly and then whispered, "I am not really meant to be alone for all eternity, am I?" 

Laurent felt his heart break a little and he patted his brother's back. "You know you aren't." Then he took a step back. "We talked about it yesterday, you remember?"

Damen reappeared by his side and handed him a steaming cup of black tea. "Here you go. Two cubes of sugar and a splash of milk."

"Thank you, Damen." Laurent was surprised, but he suspected, that he needed to get accustomed to these little gestures of attentiveness. His partner smiled brightly at him, his eyes never straying when Laurent took a careful sip.

Auguste grinned and nudged Laurent with his elbow. "He already knows how you like your tea, this one is a keeper." Damen flushed and Laurent laughed. "Stop teasing him, Auguste. Seriously."

"What are all of you doing here? Don't you have a job to do?" Nik's voice reached them and he grinned, when Damen and Auguste both flinched. "Our team leaders must have a lot of free time, if they can afford to slacken of like that."

"You know where it hurts the most, don't you", Damen whined. His best friend shrugged unaffected. "Your puppy eyes don't work with me, Damianos. Give it up."

Laurent really wished for popcorn. The way his brother practically eye fucked the big lion therian was proving to be most entertaining. Nikandros wore his hair in a bun again and the black uniform accentuated his trained form even more. 

Laurent could understand why his brother had his eyes set on the man. When Nik walked towards the Gatorade fridge and bent over to get a Lemon Lime bottle Auguste sounded a lot like a dying whale. His eyes were wide as saucers and his mouth stood open a bit.

"Hot damn, this guy has exquisite tastes. Lemon Lime is by far the best Gatorade one can chose. This one's a keeper too," Laurent declared and rammed his elbow into Auguste's side with a lot more force than his brother had nudged him.

"Yes, first of all because it's on the lowest shelf of the fridge." Pallas grinned and high-fived Laurent. 

Auguste was still watching Nik like hypnotized, while Jord tried to gain his attention by poking him in the stomach. But the display got even more interesting when a young man sided up by Nik, who stood before the sandwich selection.

"Oh no." Damen tried to leave inconspicuously but Laurent held him back with a hand to his shoulder. "What?", he whispered.

"This is Gael, Unit Beta, Recon agent, and he has his eyes set on Nik since he broke up with his long term boyfriend two months ago."

Laurent's eyes scanned the man. He was tall, trained, not as tall or muscled as Auguste, definitively therian, as his eyes revealed when the light reflected in them, most likely a smaller classification, his hair was spikey, black and expertly styled. He was handsome, the smile on his lips charming. To be honest, he looked good beside the taller, bulkier Nikandros.

Auguste seemed to realize the same. He tightened his jaw and turned to the exit. "I need to finish my report. The Sarge wanted to talk to me later on. Laurent, we see each other for lunch?"

Laurent hadn't averted his eyes from Nik and Gael. He saw how Nik laughed about one of the jokes, but stayed at a safe distance. Whenever Gael stepped closer, he stepped back. 

If Auguste left now, that would send a wrong signal altogether.   
"I think you should know that mom asked yesterday if you are still alive. And yes, lunch it is."

"What? Is mom okay?" Auguste sounded a bit panicked.

"Yes, Jesus, calm down, Auguste. You should just call her sometime. She would love to visit with dad. You know them. They don't want to intrude. If you'd say you don’t want them to come, they would stay away even though I told them they were always welcome."

Auguste looked concerned. "But I told them the same."  
"Yes, you did. But you never call. She always has to ask me."

"But we eat dinner every second Sunday if I can help it and she never told me. I am a horrible son." Auguste sounded so defeated Laurent almost had a bad consciousness. 

"You are not. They both know you love them. They are just worried. Just try to call her this week, alright?"

Jord smiled and patted Auguste's shoulder. "Greet your mom from me and tell her, that I look forward to the apple pie."  
"You planning on coming too?"

"Sure. I would never turn down an opportunity to eat your father's apple pie." Jord shrugged. "Now, excuse me, I need to kick Lazar's ass for stealing my gummy bears out of my office."

He ran after Lazar, who laughed and sprinted through the canteen up the stairs. The remaining four of them looked after them and Pallas only shook his head. "I told him he could have mine, but no, he went and stole Jord's."

"He doesn't want gummy bears from you, Pallas, however, a blowjob he would take." Nicaise appeared out of nowhere with this observation. Then he asked, "What are we all waiting for?"

"Just for Nik, who needs all of eternity to decide on a sandwich", Laurent informed him and Nicaise grinned. "Yeah, might be because of the wolf therian hanging from his shoulder."

All of them turned simultaneously and saw how Gael had somehow overcome the distance and was now feeling Nik's bicep up. 

Laurent had to suppress a laugh when he saw Nik's face. He looked decidedly not happy anymore. He threw them pleading glances and Damen squared his shoulder, handed his coffee cup over to Laurent and said, "Excuse me."

But by then Auguste was already walking over, his coffee abandoned on top of Laurent's closed tea lid. He had a bright smile on his face and drew Gael into a tight hug. "Gael, buddy, long time no see. How are you? We totally need to hang out sometime again." 

He successfully pulled him away from Nik and the man didn't look the least bit disappointed. Now he was practically engulfed in the arms of another muscled, handsome therian. He laughed and slapped Auguste's arm playfully.

Nicaise almost gagged and Pallas asked, "What the fuck is going on over there?"

Nik looked as if he didn't really understand what just happened, he hurried over to them and shook his head. "What the fuck?"

Laurent smirked and said, "You were just rescued, if you didn't pay attention. Aggressive Niceness is Auguste's super power." Now Gael had his hands on Auguste's shoulders and laughed with his head thrown back. They looked good together too. Nik scrunched up his nose.

"Auguste, I need to go. Make sure to not forget about lunch," Laurent shouted over and his brother used this, as predicted, as the perfect excuse to extract himself from Gael, who waved after him with a grin on his face.

"Thank you, Lauri." He slung one arm around Laurent and dragged him to the exit. The rest of the group followed a bit dazzled to the elevators. "Well then, pals, I really need to go back to my reports." 

He smiled again, it lit up his whole face and then he was off to the stairs. Auguste always said that he trained so much to stay in shape and it would be hypocritical to use the elevators if he could get free training whenever he used the stairs. 

He was right, of course, but Laurent still preferred the comfort of an elevator. Especially when the canteen was on the first floor and his office on the sixth.

"Now this was delighting." Laurent declared as soon as they set foot in the elevator and Damen laughed. "Yes, seeing Auguste so upset is a rare occurrence."

"Why was Auguste upset?" Nik sounded worried. He looked at Laurent inquiringly.  
"Well, he didn't call our mother for two weeks straight and she was a bit worried. He immediately felt guilty. That was half of the reason.“

"And what was the other half?“ Nik asked, still worried and Laurent couldn‘t believe it. How come everybody was a complete idiot as soon as love was involved?

"This reminds me, I should call my mother, too," Pallas remarked before they split off for their office. He already had his phone out and strode towards the room he shared with Kashel. 

"To come back to your question, Nik, Gael and you looked very cozy. Are you planning to fuck him?“ Laurent knew he sounded a bit aggressive but he couldn‘t change the fact that Auguste was the most important person on the planet for him. He wouldn‘t let anyone hurt his brother if he could help it.

"What?“ Nik sounded so blank Laurent would have laughed, if it were another context. "No. I don‘t plan on fucking Gael and what does that have to do with your brother?“

"Nik, please, just use your brain.“ Laurent sighed. Were the two of them idiots? He had held hope for Nik but apparently that was for naught.   
"Hey, Nik, I still have Auguste's coffee, could you maybe take it with you? Your office is just across from his, isn't it? Maybe you figure it out until you get there."

"Yeah, sure."  
Laurent handed the coffee over and then went to their office. Damen raised an eyebrow, it didn't look as impressive as when Auguste did it, but together with the crossed arms, he looked damn intimidating. "You really are scheming, aren't you?" 

Laurent felt the thrill tugging at his control. Damen observed him with a stern expression. The muscles in his arms bulged, Laurent wanted to touch him.

"Someone has to. I just want my brother to get laid and be happy. Who doesn't want that?"

"My brother apparently." Damen clearly tried for humor but it fell flat and Laurent snorted at the poor go at sarcasm. "Please. If it's too early, don't force yourself. By the way, what is your favorite Gatorade? I want to make sure I have it stocked in the PSTC kit."

"Thanks. I like Frost Riptide Rush, generally the Frost flavors."  
"Good choice. I approve."

Damen laughed again, his posture relaxing. "Good to know that I have your approval on the choice of my sport's drink."

"That is an important life choice for any THIRDS agent and even more so for therian THIRDS agents. You can't believe how much Gatorade I have to stock in case Auguste wants to shift." 

Damen had started up Themis again for one more hour of work. He laughed at Laurent's dramatic explanation. Laurent looked at his agenda and saw that they had still two more hours of office time before the training was scheduled. That was, if no call came through before that.


	4. Sometimes it hits me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello dear readers. Thank you so much for your continuing support. I hope the next chapter gives you a bit more insight in the whole universe. If you want to know more, you can read more to the THIRDS and therians here https://www.thirdshq.com. Have fun and I would love to hear from you!

It was as if Laurent had summoned it with his thoughts. They were informed over the earpiece that they were called to a domestic disturbance. Damen was on his feet immediately.

They made their way to the armory, where Kashel took Vannes and Laurent to one side and helped them with their equipment. They had trained for that situation a hundred times but it was the first time they were actually needed on the field.

"Domestic disturbance with the potential of violence at the THIRDS always involves at least one therian, you two understand? If you see a feral therian, you shoot them with tranqs, is that clear?" She inculcated it into them. 

"Understood", they both replied. 

Laurent had heard a lot about domestic violence where a therian was involved, they all had. The press loved cases like that. People used it as an excuse to paint therians like animals who couldn't control themselves. Especially if a case involved a human spouse, who was weaker by definition, their whole life was dragged through the mud. 

As if it was the animal in them that compelled them to abuse their loved ones. Laurent could only shake his head. 

The team made their way down to the garage.  
Halvik already waited in the bearcat. Nicaise and Lazar took the driver and passenger seat while the rest of the team sat down on the benches in back. 

They strapped themselves into the harness. Laurent took his place beside Damen, sandwiched between his partner and Vannes. Across from them, Lykaios and Kashel sat between Nik and Pallas.

Halvik briefed them shortly from her seat at the control station where Themis spit out even more information.  
"The neighbors called emergency services, when they heard the screams. In the house live Mr. and Mrs. Turner. She is a jaguar therian, he is a leopard therian. They are known to fight often but never before did the fight escalate in one of them turning feral. Now apparently, both of them turned. That is at least what the neighbors seemed to witness."

She paused for a brief moment and then continued, "I already discussed with Nik what would be the best way to enter. Nik, Pallas, Lazar you go in in your felid form. Vannes, stay ready to shift, if they need help. Damen, Kashel, Laurent, you will back them up. Isander, you stay ready to provide first aid until the ambulance arrives. Lykaios, Nicaise, you secure the perimeter." 

The car made a sharp turn to the right and Laurent was glad he was strapped into the harness. Nicaise really knew how to drive the big tactical vehicle through the streets of Marlas. 

Halvik still spoke as if they weren't tossed around like rag-dolls, "Make sure no civilians are coming down the street, if we have two agitated, feral large felids on the street, we can't have any civilians there. I'll take on the press. They will certainly want to know what happened and if we have casualties, I don't want them to broadcast it on national TV. It will be bad enough as it is. Beta Fira will arrive shortly to back us up. You understand?"

"Understood, Sarge", the team replied. Then they arrived at the address. Nicaise parked the car on the far side of the street to block the traffic. Fortunately, it was a quiet street with few pedestrians and even fewer cars. 

It was one of those neighborhoods, where everybody would be "shocked" and they would "never have thought something like that would happen". Laurent sighed as he climbed out of the bearcat. 

Nik went to shift while Damen and he waited outside. "You will be careful in there. If they are still in feral form, don't hesitate to tranq them, you understand?"

The screams of Nik filled the otherwise silent street. Laurent tried his best to keep a straight face but the shifting always got to him. It sounded horrible. The snapping of bones and screams of agony were worse than one imagined.

Laurent nodded. "You will be careful too, Damen." The large therian nodded, and then he rapped his knuckles against Laurent's helmet. "I am doing this job for years. Don't worry."

"You are my partner, naturally I worry about you." Laurent huffed and then Nik exited the large vehicle in his felid form, Lykaios close behind him. 

He was impressive. His mane swished with every step he took and he carefully sniffed Laurent's hand, then bumped Damen with his head.

"Hey buddy. Be careful. Jaguars can crush your head with one bite and not even your hard scull will protect you then, understood."

Nik growled and looked definitively unimpressed. Laurent turned to Damen and remarked, "I think he assesses the risk of you being in trouble as more probable than his scull getting crushed." 

Nik nodded his head and Damen rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah smartasses." 

Kashel came out next, followed by a large tiger, Laurent assumed it to be Pallas. The tiger therian also came over and sniffed Laurent's hand.  
"Hello there."

Pallas licked over his hand once and then went to brush up against Kashel's legs. Lazar's cries toned down and a minute later another tiger emerged from the bear cat. 

He was a tabby tiger and Laurent was surprised to see him. Tabby tigers were rare and very beautiful. 

Lazar had the least qualms about him. He came over and almost toppled him over with a forceful bump against his legs. Laurent smiled and scratched him behind his ears. "You really need to be careful, otherwise I'll hack your desktop."

Lazar huffed but backed down. 

Then Damen called for order and they fell in line. The house was the third one on the left side of the street and they went inside without much trouble. 

It was chaos. Laurent had never seen such destruction inside a home.  
Over his earpiece, Halvik announced Auguste's arrival. They would stay behind until either Damen called for backup or they saw the need to go in.

"Copy that." Damen's voice was calm, in control and void of any emotions. He motioned for them to split up. Kashel, Pallas, and Lazar would go to the right, Nik, Laurent and he would go to the left into the living room. 

Inside the living room it looked as if a tornado had swept through it.  
Nik went through the debris with a single-minded determination. They entered the dining room next, where blood pooled on the floor.

"We have them," Kashel's voice was cool. "We are in the kitchen. No threat."

They followed her voice and Laurent saw the most disturbing picture of his life. A big leopard therian lay on the floor, still in his felid form, the scull crushed, but his claws still buried deep in the stomach of the jaguar therian, who must have died from blood loss, the guts spilled all over the kitchen tiles.

"We have them, they are both dead. It's very messy. Send in the medical examiners", Damen informed over the ear-pieces. "We'll make sure there are no other threats or victims and then come out."

They swept the rest of the house but it was empty, no other soul there. Laurent was grateful. This was horrible enough without any traumatized witnesses. 

Back outside Damen spoke with Auguste, who sent two of his team members to flank the door. Berenger and Jord posed an impressive barrier. Nobody who had no batch would make it through there. 

Damen reported to Halvik and then the two teams secured to perimeter until Unit Delta would show up and take over for them. The press was already swarming the barrier. 

Lazar, Nik and Pallas shifted back, immediately receiving PSTC. Laurent and Damen waited outside the bearcat and the teamleader looked Laurent once over. "Are you alright?“

"Yes.“ Laurent knew what he had coming for him. It was a dangerous, action filled and sometimes very sad job. "I am fine.“

"Really? Because that was one of the most horribe domesic disturbances we’ve ever had.“ Damen took one step closer and laid a hand on Laurent‘s shoulder. "You are entitled to your emotions, Laurent.“

The heat of his hand seeped in through the uniform and Laurent looked up in his honey eyes, watching him with kindness and understanding. In this moment he realized how dangerous Damianos Vallis was for him. 

He knew if he ever gave in to his attraction towards Damen, he would never get over him completely. The therian had the potential of ruining him for everybody else. 

"Thank you. I admit it is truly horrible what happened to them but that‘s the job.“  
"Yeah. Sometimes that‘s the job. I just wanted someting more- hopeful to be your first job at the THIRDS. Maybe dissolving a hostage situation successfully or something like that.“

Laurent smiled. "We will have multiple other opportunities to see more hopeful sides of the job.“  
"You are right, partner.“ Damen stepped back and entered the bearcat. With a deep breath, Laurent followed. 

The mood was dark in the car. Lazar, Nik and Pallas stuffed their faces with the junkfood they got from the drive-through. Kashel stared at her hands in silence and Laurent understood. 

Nobody could ban the pictures they saw today from their minds completely. It was like a dark cloud hanging over their head. 

Damen finally broke the silence when they reached HQ, "You all did a great job today. We had the first job as a team and it was gruesome but you all were true professionals and I would never demand of you to forget what we saw today but I want you to know that I am proud of every single one of you. I tell you not enough how proud I am to call you my team.“ 

The change in atmosphere was almost tangible. All of them raised their eyes, looked at Damen, as if he was the first ray of sunshine after a year of darkness. 

Lykaios threw herself at Damen. "We are proud to be your team, Damen. Thank you for coming back to us.“ Lazar hugged them both and drew Nicaise in the group hug too. 

"Come on, we do that not nearly enough.“ Lazar waved the others and in the end the whole team hugged. "Okay this moment could only be more perfect if I was being hugged by Pallas and Laurent. Nothing against you two, Kashel, Nik but neither of you are really my type.“ 

Nicaise groaned. "You just had to make it awkward.“  
They laughed and then extracted themselves. 

Vannes looked Laurent over and asked, "How bad was it?“ She didn‘t have to enter the house but heard from them that it looked bad.  
  
"Really bad. I‘m just happy I‘m no medical examiner. The worst part were not even the bodies but the story behind it. I mean they were married. They loved each other and then killed their spouse.“

"Yes, I can’t imagine what must have happened.“ Vannes bit her bottom lip. She didn’t say anything else when they went to the training bay. 

The team had free training scheduled. Laurent didn’t yet know what that meant for his teammates but for him, it meant first some Yoga to warm up, then sparring with Vannes and in the end going to the gym. 

Although his normal routine would most likely be broken today. Damen leaned against the lockers, right beside his and grinned. "You fancy a bout on the mats with me?“

Laurent had to forcefully ban the lewd pictures his brain immediately supplied and raised an eyebrow. "You didn’t have me under you enough times yesterday?“ 

Damen’s grin widened. "You afraid of me? Don’t be, I would never take advantage of you, if you are under me.“ 

Tingles shot up Laurent’s spine, like little pinpricks. He knew what they were doing here. And it was called flirting. Laurent couldn’t remember when the last time was he flirted and even when he did, most of the time he didn’t want to. But with Damen- 

It was just so easy. The sparks between them burned brighter with every moment they spent in each other’s company. Nothing was forced, in fact, Damen only had to look at him with those beautiful dark eyes and Laurent was lost.

"I know you wouldn’t.“ Laurent shut his locker, then walked towards the exit of the locker room. "Now then, let’s go.“

They went into their trainingbay, Ambush Alpha one of the few teams with a bay of their own. Vannes was already engaged with Nicaise while Pallas stood at the sideline and corrected them. When Lykaios joined them, Pallas started demonstrating different fighting styles with her. 

The four of them seemed rather productive so Laurent decided against disturbing them. Vannes was already occupied and he would be too if he judged by the way Damen grinned at him. 

"Looking forward to it, aren‘t you?“  
"What? Having you under me? Very.“ Damen still grinned. He placed his boots beside one mat and Laurent laughed. "Your ego exceeds the expectations.“

"Thank you.“ Damen laughed too, then he grew serious. They stood face to face on the mat. "I want you to be serious. Don‘t try to pamper me because of my back. I appreciate your concern but I want you at your best.“ 

Laurent watched him with a mixture of different feelings. Damen‘s movements were fluid, catlike, he almost stalked. He was an apex predator and it was made obvious by his whole body. 

Laurent knew he had no chance if it came to brute force. Therians were stronger than humans without any additional training and Damen was not only a therian with incredible training but he was build like a brick-wall. If he wanted to stand a chance, he had to strategize. Fortunately, thinking was Laurent‘s speciality. 

He charged. Damen was so surprised when Laurent apparently tried to take him head on, he hesitated for a second. And that was all Laurent needed. 

He ducked in the last moment, rolled behind Damen, kicked him in the back of his knees. Then he jumped to his feet, wrapped his thighs around the other man‘s neck and dragged him down. 

He knew that was most likely the last win against his partner in a long time. Damen‘s hands flew up and wrapped around his legs but Laurent just tightened his hold. 

"Now that‘s a way to go. Congrats Damen, you just made it to the top five of my preferred forms of deaths. Suffocated by the thighs of one Laurent Leblanc.“ Lazar voice was obnoxious and Laurent let Damen go. 

The big therian sat up, coughed and then said, "Not even half as much fun as you imagine now.“  
Lazar giggled while Laurent helped his partner to his feet. 

"I suppose you want a revanche? Just let me savor my win for another ten seconds.“ Laurent closed his eyes, his hand raised to signal Damen to wait. When he opened them again he smiled and said, "well, I am ready for you to teach me everything you know.“

"Everything? That would be quite a lot, Laurent.“  
Laurent loved the way Damen pronounced his name. He couldn‘t get the pronunciation of the north quite right, but with his southern accent it sounded sexy as hell.  
"I am an apt student.“


	5. Sometimes you get me completely

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers. Here the next part of the adventure :) I hope you'll like it. Thank you sooo much for your kudos and comments! 
> 
> Seriously, Kaipo, Najona, TeoMoy and Kittenpurple, this chapter could only be finished so fast because of you. Thank you for your continuous support.

After that first dispatch it was normal for them to train together. Damen loved every second of the days he got to spend with his partner. Laurent clicked with him in a way that was rare and envied between human and therian partners at the THIRDS. 

They understood each other practically without words and Damen felt how his felid reared its head whenever Laurent was close. The lion in him wanted to come out and meet the human himself. 

However, for the first month there was no necessity for Damen to shift, especially because Halvik still wanted him to start slowly. He couldn’t jump in head first, that’s what she told him and she was his boss, so he listened. Although he didn’t like it in the slightest. 

After the first month Damen craved Laurent’s company so much, that he started to match his schedule to Laurent’s completely. The human let him, didn’t ever push him away but seemed to welcome his company with a small smile.

Today they went for a longer swim training. It was actually Damen’s idea and he only realized that it might have been a bad plan when he entered the pool area and saw Laurent surrounded by other agents. He was so attractive, Damen’s mouth dried out. Fuck. 

Clothed Laurent was bad, half naked Laurent was worse. He bit the inside of his cheek, hard. He needed to take some deep breaths. For a second he thought about turning around. 

His stomach muscles tightened, he wanted to touch and kiss every single spot of Laurent’s body. He wanted to bite and suck the pale skin until there was a mark left behind, until the world would see that Laurent belonged to him. He wanted to mark him up and the thought terrified him.

When he saw some guy, Gerard?, trying to touch Laurent’s arm, a growl built in his chest. Surprised, he immediately shut the noise down. What was wrong with him? He shook himself out of it and walked over. Most of the agents dispersed.

"Damen! How are you? Laurent just told me, you two would go for a swim.“ Gerard grinned, he was part of Torveld’s team, if Damen remembered correctly. "I am fine, thank you for asking. How are you?“

Gerard smiled. "I am good. Torveld actually ordered his whole team to swim-training for 'team bonding'“, he grimaced, as if that was a bad thing.

"He’s doing a good job as team leader“, Damen remarked with a smile. "You guys had a tough time filling in for my team for such a long time. I think he just wants you to have fun.“

Laurent interrupted, "I’ll just start with warming up, nice to meet you Gerard.“ He smiled politely and then went to the place where yoga mats were laid out for the agents to warm up before swimming. 

"At least the view is a good one“, Gerard remarked just when Laurent was out of earshot while staring at the retreating figure. Damen crossed his arms before his chest. "It might be better if you keep that thought to yourself.“

"Oh come on, Damen, you can’t tell me, you’d NOT tap that if you could.“  
Damen actually growled, he was just as surprised as Gerard, who took a step back. "Everything alright man?“

"You should think twice before you talk. Laurent is my partner, I have the uttermost respect for him and you should too. Or I will tell him what you just told me and then I think you will find yourself in a lot of trouble.“ Damen turned around, boiling inside and started his warm up too. 

Laurent looked up from his stretching, his blond hair almost glowed in the brightly lit area and studied him for some seconds. "Another one?“  
"I don’t know why I never realized sooner how disrespectful people are. I never got these comments when Jokaste was still my partner.“

"It’s because I am a man too. They don't want to anger you. Just ignore it. It’s not as if they do more than talk.“  
"Better for them.“

"That’s true. I know some very painful ways of making people regret.“ Laurent grinned, it was boyish and one of these grins that were only directed at Damen or Auguste. 

Damen felt how his heart skipped a beat. "Would you maybe want to grab something to eat for dinner after work?“  
Laurent seemed surprised. Why, Damen couldn’t imagine, it was not as if he hid how much he liked Laurent’s company. "I would want, but I can’t. I already have another appointment.“

He tried hard to not sound disappointed when he said, "maybe next time.“  
Laurent stared at him, as if he wasn’t quite sure if Damen really meant it, but still answered, "yes, next time sounds great.“

They went to the pool, Damen had to look away when Laurent lowered himself into the water. His abbs tensing and the muscles in his arms working. And now he was wet. This got worse with every second in there. 

"What is the matter, Vallis? Afraid of water? I thought you larger felids are not like your average house cat.“  
Damen gasped in mock shock. "You didn’t say that just now, did you?“

Laurent grinned. "What if I did?“ He swam back, away from the edge.  
"Then I’ll have to make sure you’ll never say it again.“ Damen jumped into the water and chased Laurent through the pool. 

He was the better swimmer and he could grab his partner’s ankle pretty fast. He yanked the blond man back and pushed him under water by his shoulders. When Laurent emerged, he gasped for breath. "I thought waterboarding was not approved by the THIRDS.“

"Well, if you promise to never compare me to a house cat again, then I might reconsider my revenge plan.“ Damen grinned while he treaded water. 

His partner sized him up and then sighed. "It seems that I don’t have a choice. I swear I will never compare you to a house cat again, you big bad lion you.“ Laurent teased. He kept a straight face, but his eyes sparkled with mischief. 

Damen‘s jaw dropped open. "I beg your pardon? Agent Leblanc are you disrespecting your commanding officer?“  
The challenge in Laurent‘s eyes made Damen‘s toes curl. "Oh, I am. You might have to discipline me, agent Vallis.“ 

Damen felt the heat flare in his veins. He wanted Laurent so badly, it was almost hurting him to hold back. The blue eyes, promising an unforgettable adventure, lured him in and only the loud shriek from the end of the pool prevented him from doing something really bad. 

"In this case, agent Leblanc, your punishment are 40 lanes of freestyle. I will count them myself.“ Damen grinned at Laurent‘s indignant snort. 

"You just need an excuse to sit this one out, Damen. I knew it!“ He huffed, turned around and started to swim. 

The shriek had come from Kashel, who had been pushed into the water by Lazar. The two of them seemed to take an interest in whatever their team leader and Laurent were doing together.

Damen swam over and got out of the water. "Oh hello Damen, I almost didn‘t see you.“ Lazar looked at him innocently, but Damen didn‘t believe him for one second. "As you are both here you can join Laurent in his training. 40 lanes of freestyle. I will count.“

"Shouldn‘t you train too?“ Lazar complained but got in the pool.  
"Look at him Lazar, then look at you. Who of you needs more training?“ Kashel asked him. "And before you answer, that was a rethoric question.“

"Thank you for your body-shaming, Kash. Comparing anyone to Damen is just flat out unfair. But enough of that self-confidence damper our team leader gives us all. What I wanted to ask, why does Laurent have to swim 40 lanes freestyle?“

"Disrespecting his commanding officer.“ Damen grinned brightly. "And just think about what you want to say now, Lazar. If you aren‘t careful I will increase to 50 lanes.“

Lazar blessedly kept his mouth shut but he looked as if he had won the lottery. Kashel grinned and started to swim. 

"Hello Damen, is your team here too for a bit of recreational time?“ Torveld shouted over. The rest of his team had apparently arrived and they jumped in the water like teenagers. 

Damen laughed at Torveld‘s exasperated sigh. "No. Actually, Laurent and I wanted to train here, but Lazar and Kashel had nothing else to do and so I decided they should join in. Unfortunately, this also requires me to supervise, otherwise Lazar will skip out after ten minutes. He rather gets his cardio training with other activities.“

Torveld laughed and slapped his shoulder. "They sure are a bunch, aren‘t they?“  
"Don‘t tell me.“

"Hey, team leader, shouldn‘t you count? I won‘t swim even one lane more because you forgot to count“, Lazar shouted from down in the water. Damen grinned at him. "Two, Lazar. Shouldn‘t you swim?“

Torveld chuckled, when Lazar mumbled something but followed the indirect order. "Good to know that I am not the only one with discipline issues. At least they are doing what I tell them whenever we‘re in the field.“

Damen only shook is head. "I love them all, but sometimes I feel like the stern parent and I never thought I would find myself in this position being team leader.“

Torveld nodded. "Yes, I see your point. I think it wasn‘t in the job description when I applied either.“

Torveld stood beside Damen while supervising his team and keeping them from drowning each other. Damen counted, like promised. Laurent finished first, he had had two lanes of a head-start and took the whole thing a lot more serious than either Lazar or Kashel. 

So, in the end he finished when Lazar and Kashel still had six lanes to go. He climbed out of the water and Damen almost swallowed his tongue. 

If he thought it was bad seeing Laurent half naked, it was nothing compared to seeing Laurent half naked AND wet. A drop of water rolled down his throat over the sharp collarbone, down a pale peck over a pink nipple and Damen felt a stir. 

Laurent came closer, he stopped right before Damen and he directed his gaze to Laurent’s face again.

"I received my disciplinary measures, agent Vallis.“ His voice was neutral, nothing provoking but his eyes told another story. Damen crossed his arms before his chest and replied, "you did. Learned your lesson?“

"Absolutely. Never disrespecting my commanding officer again, agent Vallis.“ Laurent smirked. He looked not sorry at all. 

No, his eyes wandered down Damen‘s, now dry, upper body. "I will never compare you to a house cat again and wouldn‘t dream about making fun of you or your classification.“ Laurent redirected his gaze to Damen‘s face.

Damen really needed a cold shower. Fuck. He was just happy he had his arms crossed, this made grabbing Laurent and dragging him to the next unoccupied room impalpably more difficult.

Torveld cleared his throat and Damen snapped out of the trance he was in. Laurent directed his gaze to the other teamleader. He shook Torveld‘s hand with a polite smile, nothing like the smiles he had for the team. 

"Torveld, I see you brought your team. Are they trying to win a competition where you have to drown as many team members as possible?“  
"That might be the case. I stopped caring a long time ago.“ Torveld shrugged.

"I am glad Damen didn‘t do that too. Otherwise I might been eaten alive up until now. However, with all the additional training I get from my partner I am at peak condition.“ Laurent looked back at Damen, something soft in his eyes and a smile on his lips. 

Damen had trouble breathing. However, he slapped Laurent‘s shoulder and answered, "I can‘t risk that you could decide that the PSTC kit is too much of a hassle to carry. So training it is. You won‘t even feel the weight anymore.“

"I doubt that. But all the cardio and strength training has its pecks in a lot of different life situations.“ Laurent pushed his hair back, the movement let his muscles tense in the most delicious way. 

Damen could see that he was not the only one having trouble with holding back.  
"It does?“  
"Yes, your weight on me is only half as egregious now.“ 

The situation was ludicrous. Damen couldn‘t decide if he wanted to laugh hysterically or if he wanted to grab Laurent and devour him whole. 

Torveld‘s eyes were as big as saucers. Damen couldn‘t care less. The words of Laurent evoked some feeling inside of him that he never experienced before. It was deeper, more meaningful and more desperate than anything he had felt up to that point. 

Laurent had his body turned towards him and seemed to wait for some kind of answer. Normally, Damen would reciprocate with banter of his own, but right now-  
Right now he wanted Torveld to believe exactly what he seemed to think right then.

"Hey you two, before you start making out by the pool could you please acknowledge that I finished my 40 lanes and am now going to shower.“ Lazar‘s voice was very unwelcome but Damen didn‘t even look at him when he nodded. "You can go.“  
"I‘m going too.“ Kashel waved and left, behind her teammate.

Laurent‘s lips stretched into a slow smile. "Can I go too?“  
Damen watched him lick his lips and he almost died on the spot. For fucks sake. Laurent‘s mouth was a sin on its own. 

"You can. If you want. Or we could stay here for a bit of recreation. There is a whirlpool outside.“  
"What?! How come nobody told me?“ He sounded so indignant, Damen laughed. 

"I think your brother didn‘t want you to set foot in the pool area because he couldn‘t be there to protect you from all the lechers and the rest of the team doesn‘t really use it. They might have forgotten to tell you.“

"But you do?“  
"I did include regular swim training before and thus I was here quite often.“  
"Good to know. We could start coming here regularly again.“

Damen felt the warm feeling spread. "Yes. We should do that. Bye Torveld.“  
"Goodbye.“ Laurent threw over his shoulder. Already walking to the door that lead outside.

They went to the whirlpool and both of them used the time to discuss latest changes in the equal rights politics. Laurent was well informed, even better than Damen who was very interested in the topic. 

"It‘s not really surprising, is it? My parents are both working for the equal rights movement. And I have a close relationship with them both.“

"Really? I always wanted that with my father, but as you know, he IS the job. He is never 100% present and since the thing with Kastor we can‘t talk anymore. He fees guilty because I always was his favorite and Kastor was the odd one out.“ Damen sighed. "I am sorry. I shouldn‘t turn every conversation we have to such a depressing talk.“

Laurent smiled. He looked so kind and warm that Damen wanted to draw him in his arms and never let him go. 

"I want to know all your depressing stories, Damen. The good ones too but don‘t think I am not interested in your struggles. I have an amazing family. My parents love me, my brother loves me to the moon and back and he is the most important person in my life." He paused for a moment.

"I know I am priviledged in the family love department. I appreciate it and I can understand why someone else would want that too. Your father is very proud of you and he loves you, he told me as much when he took me out drinking once after I finished the program, but he is not warm and he is not forgiving. His love isn‘t unconditional and that puts a lot of pressure on his children.“

Damen felt his throat close up. "You are right. And my father took you drinking?“

"Yes, together with your uncle Makedon. He is with the THIRDS too, isn‘t he? Theomedes promised me to take me out for free drinks if I would surpass your record at the final exam of the trainee program. I did and he kept his promise. Your uncle wanted to meet me and as a result I went drinking with the two of them.“

Damen was speechless. "How come you didn‘t die of alcohol poisoning?“

"I can hold my liquor and Auguste came to get me after I couldn‘t walk a straight line anymore. However, I was still able to make sure your father and Makedon got home in one piece.“ Laurent‘s eyes sparkled with mischief and Damen knew, whatever hope he might have had of turning back, away from Laurent, it was gone now.

"I honestly have no words.“ Damen gaped at his partner.

"Your father told me about you. He told me that you were sometimes so much like your mother it hurt to look at you. He also told me that he loved you so much for being more like her and less like him. I know he is very proud of you and who you are, Damen.“

Damen felt the tears sting in his eyes. He blinked them away and smiled a somewhat watery smile. "Thank you.“  
Laurent laid a hand on his shoulder, then closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the edge of the pool. 

Damen saw this opportunity and took his time studying him. Laurent‘s hair already started to dry and the soft waves started to come back. He had a small smirk on his lips. 

His throat was exposed, the long pale column enticing Damen. He wanted to suck a bruise into the flesh there. His gaze traveled lower,- And then the bubbling water veiled everything else. 

Maybe for the better. The strong fingers pressed still lightly into his shoulder and Damen followed Laurent‘s example, closed his eyes and just relaxed. He needed to think about what Laurent had told him. 

Maybe he needed to go see his father in the evening. They had a lot to talk about and all this guilt helped nobody. No, Damen wanted his father back and he would take the first step if it was what was needed.


	6. You got me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers. Sorry for the delay. I had a crazy week, actually the last week was... one big catastrophe? But it's over now and here is a new chapter. I hope you like it. I'd love to hear from you! If you have any questions you'd like to have answered, just write me :)

The next weeks were calm. No major case but a lot of training and routine call outs. Laurent loved it. 

He got on with Nicaise like a house on fire and the two of them pulled pranks that nobody could attribute to them. 

He also enjoyed the fact that he worked at the same office like his big brother. This meant they could drive to work pretty often together and Auguste was so cheerful it was addictive. 

Pallas and Laurent discovered that they both enjoyed the yoga class taught by one of the other agents. They went there almost every second day together and Laurent liked the company of the tiger therian quite a lot. 

He loved the new job and the best thing was that he got to know Damen. They were together all the time while working. The swimming started to be part of their routine. Lazar and Kashel both teased them like crazy while Nicaise insulted them at every opportunity for their bromance.

Laurent couldn’t care less. He loved Damen’s company and that was surprising enough, but the fact that Damen seemed to like his company too was almost a miracle. 

His partner was funny, kind and knew how to keep him on his toes. Like right now. Damen had bought him a Japanese trick box and Laurent was working on opening it when the call came in. 

Their team was needed out there together with Auguste’s and Torveld‘s team. A rampant group of large felid therians wrecked havoc on the central avenue of Marlas. 

Damen immediately got up and together Ambush Alpha made their way to the armory. They geared up in full tactical uniforms. While they walked, Damen made sure that Laurent was right behind him. 

Laurent knew their routine by now. He would tap Damen‘s shoulder once to signal him they were ready to go. When they sat in the bearcat, their big tactical vehicle, Halvik and Nik went over the tactic with them. 

Nicaise drove the large car like the little maniac he was and they arrived in record time. It was the first callout that needed Damen in his felid form. Halvik had instructed Damen, Nikandros, Lazar, Vannes and Pallas to shift beforehand. 

"Get them whatever way you deem necessary, you hear me? There are still civilians. Lykaios, Nicaise, Isander you three will help the human police force to evacuate them. Laurent, Kashel you two will provide the rest of the team with backup.“ 

They all nodded to show they understood. Pallas was up first. Laurent took the post shift trauma care kit for Damen and slung it over his shoulder. Lykaios, Kashel, Nicaise and Isander beside him did so too. 

Kashel squirmed when she heard the pained screams of her partner but then the privacy screen was lifted again and Pallas trotted out. He was really damn impressive and Laurent grew up with a tiger therian. 

Pallas nuzzled his head against Kashel and rubbed around her legs. She laughed and opened the door to let him and herself out. Nikandros was next. 

He shook his big head when he emerged. Lykaios was already outside and scratched him behind his ears. Nikandros rumbled and nudged her belly with his big head. 

Lazar went into the shifting area and when he came back out the transformation on Nicaise‘s face was a real surprise. The young man crouched down before the beautiful tabby tiger and nuzzled his cheek. 

Lazar huffed and licked a stripe over his whole face. And although Nicaise grimaced, he started to laugh and Laurent could see how much the partners actually loved each other. 

Whenever Lazar was in his human form they fought but now Nicaise cuddled him and played with him as if they were one heart and one soul. 

Damen stepped up beside him. "They actually get along very well. Nicaise loves Lazar and Lazar sees in Nicaise the little brother he never had.“ 

Laurent nodded while Vannes‘ pained cries filled the bearcat. She came back out and headed towards Isander. It was their first time meeting with Vannes in her felid form. 

She was smaller than the rest of the team but impressive nonetheless. 

She sniffed at Isander‘s outstretched hand and then pushed her head against it. Isander smiled softly and stroked her fur. "You are very beautiful“, he said softly and she nudged him towards the exit of the car. 

Damen was the last one to shift, and he looked over to Laurent with a wink. "Don‘t even think about abandoning the trauma care kit or I will hunt you down, Leblanc.“

"I wouldn‘t dream about it. Now, strip.“ Laurent smiled, it was their insider joke since the first time he said it and Damen had looked at him as if he was having a heart attack.

The smile he got in return was lazy and lascivious, but Damen said nothing else and went to shift. Laurent gritted his teeth when he heard the pained cries that turned to growls. 

He almost had a panic attack when he heard Auguste shift for the first time and it still let his blood run cold. When Damen emerged Laurent‘s heart almost stopped. 

Damen was massive. He was even bigger than Nikandros. He shook his dark mane and a low rumble built in his chest when he trotted towards Laurent. 

His eyes were the same honey color they had whenever the sun met his eyes just in the right angle in his human form. Laurent smiled brightly. Damen was beautiful and intimidating at the same time. 

He knew a lot about larger felids thanks to Auguste and so he let himself be sniffed and rubbed up against. 

Damen was very affectionate and Laurent had to remind him in a stern voice that they couldn‘t play yet and needed to do a job. This sobered Damen up fast and he hopped out of the car. 

As soon as his paws hit the concrete the team started to gather up for the mission. The other teams were there and also making last minute preparations. 

Laurent spotted Auguste, who was the biggest member of his team. The siberian tiger sniffed the air and swung his head around. As soon as he saw Laurent, he came over and rubbed his head against his brother‘s belly. 

"You be careful,“ Laurent whispered, while he scratched his brother‘s chin the way he liked. His words had Auguste bump him firmly. "I promise I will look after myself.“ 

Laurent smiled when the large tiger greeted Damen with a bump of his head and Nik with a lick on his cheek and then went back to his own team. Damen immediately nudged his hand. Clearly wanting attention. 

"Yes, yes Damianos. I didn‘t forget about you.“ Laurent chuckled fondly. "Be careful out there, alright? We have this bonding class tomorrow and I can‘t show up there alone so you better be in top form, you hear me?“ Damen rumbled, nudged his nose against his hip bone and then the therians were off. 

The mission was a nightmare. Laurent had never experienced something like it. Everywhere were panicked people and abandoned belongings, it looked like out of a horror movie. 

The therians who attacked the civilians were out of their mind. They were a large group, at least ten and they didn‘t feel pain. Laurent suspected a new therian drug. 

The worst of it all was that the tranqs apparently didn‘t work or at least, they only worked after a fucking long time. 

Nicaise, Lykaios and Isander started clearing the perimeter from civilians while their therian team members threw themselves into the fight. The roars and growls reverberated from the high buildings on each side of the street. 

The human police officers looked as if their worst nightmare played directly before their eyes. 

Laurent couldn‘t think about any of this, he had to focus. Kashel moved beside him while they fired tranq after tranq into the group of crazed felids. 

The fight seemed to go on forever but it was most likely only half an hour, maximum, before the last of the group was taken down. 

The limp felid bodies were charred off into the barred backs of the bearcats, while the emergency services flooded the scene. 

They had already treated the wounded, who made it over the barrier but there were some people still on the ground. 

Laurent spoke through his earpiece, "Is everybody alright?“   
"Yes.“ Lykaios and Isander answered at the same time.   
"Everything is peachy over here.“ Nicaise sounded sarcastic but also a bit shocked. 

Kashel beside him nodded. The two of them hadn‘t left each others side for even a second during the fight. "We need to go look for our teammates.“ Laurent told the rest of the team. 

They immediately gathered and made their way over to the therian agents. Pallas and Lazar came over as soon as they spotted them, both of them unharmed. However they both seemed upset and pushed Isander insistently towards a location. 

Laurent followed with dread coiling in his gut. 

It was Nikandros. He had a deep gash in his side, blood pouring out and forming a puddle under his body. One of his legs seemed to be broken. Damen stood beside his head and nuzzled his mane, while Nikandros whimpered. 

Auguste paced, hissed and growled and warded everybody off ,who wanted to come closer. Vannes sat a bit to the side clearly disturbed by whatever happened. 

Lazar butted Laurent into the back of his legs and he shook himself out of it. He needed to calm his brother down. 

He slowly made his way over. Auguste saw him coming and stopped his pacing. He hissed at another paramedic when he tried to go behind his back. 

"Auguste, you need to let them treat Nik. I know you are worried but he needs medical attention and they can‘t give him what he needs if you don‘t let them examine him.“ Laurent spoke softly and held his hand out. 

"Come here. I am sure they will let you go to the hospital with him but you need to shift back first. Come on. Let‘s find Jord so he can admit PSTC. Then you can accompany him.“ 

Auguste looked back to Nik, who bled all over the concrete, and seemed to come to a decision. He walked over to Laurent and the paramedics immediately rushed over to Nikandros. 

Lykaios was in tears beside her partner and ran her fingers through his mane. She said something in Akileon not in the common tongue of the Artesian republic but Laurent understood it anyways, "Please Nik, you have to stay with us. We all need you. You hear me? We love you.“

Auguste let his head hang when he followed Laurent to Jord, who immediately ushered him into one of the temporary set up shifting tents. 

Not ten minutes later his brother stumbled out, still weak on his feet. Laurent supported him as much as he could with his smaller and most  
importantly human frame. 

He knew Auguste wouldn‘t let himself rest until he did what he needed to do. Nik was being loaded into one of the ambulances and Auguste stumbled towards his stretcher. "I need to accompany him.“ 

They didn‘t ask any questions, but made sure he and Lykaios could get into the big vehicle. Laurent watched his brother go, then he looked at his team. "You need to shift and then we drive to the hospital.“ 

He took over the commando like he never did something else in his life. 

Halvik‘s voice came in over the earpiece, "I arranged for all of you today and tomorrow off. Your bonding class with Damianos will be pushed to next month. Stay with Nik and let me know how he‘s doing. This incident is a political nightmare and I have to handle the press. I won‘t be able to get out of here for the next day.“ 

"Will do, Sargent.“ Laurent confirmed and then they made their way over to the tents. Laurent gathered that Nik was the only one heavily injured. 

Jord had told him, that Nik had pushed Auguste out of the way when it happened. That also explained why his brother had looked as if it was his fault. 

Damen‘s painful cries soon transformed into low groans and then a hand sticked through the entrance of the tent and Laurent handed the clothes inside. Some minutes later a quiet, "come in“, could be heard and he entered the tent. 

Damen sat on a chair, head in his hands, upper body bare. Laurent rushed over and handed him some gatorade. "Drink, Damen.“  
"I don‘t think I can. I am so dizzy.“

"Is this your first shift since the injury?“  
"Yes. They didn‘t want me to shift because of my leg.“ 

Laurent held Damen‘s neck with one hand when he tipped his head back. Then he held the bottle to his lips. "Come on, big guy. I will help you.“ He tipped the bottle up so that a first sip filled Damen‘s mouth. Damen swallowed. 

"That‘s right. You are doing great.“ They continued until the whole bottle was gone and then he forced Damen to eat some of the provided food and helped him dress in his shirt. 

Someone had brought his uniform over and Damen carelessly striped his jogging pants off to put on his uniform. 

Laurent concentrated hard on a point over Damen’s shoulder. He couldn‘t look down, no he definitively couldn‘t do that to himself. The swimming was bad enough. 

So, he stared over Damen‘s head while the tall therian started dressing again. When he wore his pants and undershirt he looked at Laurent.   
"Thank you for your help.“ 

The blond man smiled and kneeled before him to help him with his boots.  
"That is kind of my point in this partnership, Damen.“

"No. You aren‘t required to do all this. You only need to make sure I don‘t kneel over. Everything else is my responsibility. But you are so...“ He didn‘t finish his sentence. 

Then he said, "Jokaste always let me sort things out on my own. She wasn‘t comfortable with me post shift. I think she didn‘t like to see me weak and needy.“ 

He laughed self deprecating. Laurent handed him a bottle of water and ran his hand through his dark curls. He knew it was maybe a bit too much intimacy and certainly not part of PSTC but he couldn‘t seem to stop himself. 

Damen‘s curls were just as soft as he thought they would be. 

"I think it is an honor to be trusted by you to take care of you when you are at your weakest.“ He said it quietly and while rubbing his fingertips over Damen‘s scalp. 

The other man shuddered and then he looked up to Laurent with pain and worry and gratefulness in his eyes. "Do you mind if I hug you?“

Before Laurent could say something Damen wrapped his arms around his middle, drew him closer und buried his face in Laurent‘s abdomen.  
Laurent continued to brush through his curls and murmuring soft reassurances. 

When Damen let him go, he immediately missed the strong arms around him. He stepped back and smiled at his partner. "Come, we have a team member to visit.“ Damen nodded and they made their way to the bearcat.

When the team was complete, Nicaise drove them to the hospital. They rushed the front desk and were immediately directed to a waiting room where Auguste and Lykaios were already waiting. 

Lykaios looked pale and shaky while Auguste expression was angry and his pacing restless. The big tiger therian paced the whole of the room while running his hands through his messed up hair. 

He looked better than when he entered the ambulance so he most likely had eaten something substantial and finished the PSTC properly. 

Laurent watched how his brother again ran a hand through his ever longer, golden hair and decided to abandon his post by Damen‘s side who talked to Lykaios. 

He went over and laid a hand on Auguste’s shoulder. His big brother stared at him as if he couldn‘t believe he was really there. Then his sparkling blue eyes filled with tears and he crushed Laurent against his chest.

"What do I do if he dies, Lauri?“ He whispered it into his hair and Laurent stroked his brother‘s back. "He won‘t die. Nik is not so easily killed.“ 

Laurent prayed to every god he could name that he wouldn‘t turn out to be a liar. 

His brother clung to him for a long time. When he pulled back his eyes were red. Laurent guided him to one of the chairs and sat him down. Then he just petted his hair und stood beside him while he watched over the room. 

In one corner the TV showed recordings of the incident. Laurent looked away. He concentrated on the golden head of his brother.

When his phone buzzed in his pocket he whipped it out and saw his father‘s caller id. 

"Dad?“  
"Are you alright? Is Auguste alright? We just saw the news.“ His father sounded frantic, worried and nothing like the composed man he normally was. "They say one of the agents was injured badly.“

"We are both fine. We are at the hospital. The agent who was injured is one of my teammates.“ His father let out a heavy breath. "Thank god. I thought it was you or Auguste.“

"They would have called immediately, Dad. Or one of us would have called. We are fine. I didn‘t expect that it would hit the news so fast. Auguste is pretty out of it. The agent is close to him and allegedly pushed him out of the way and took the hit for him.“

Aleron was silent for a few moments. "How close are they, Laurent? Is it his boyfriend? Lover?“   
"No. But honestly, I have no idea why not.“

Aleron sighed. "I already suspected that Auguste was hiding something. He isn't really good at that."   
Laurent didn't show the surprise in his face, but he asked: "What are you implying?"

"I think it's my fault that he didn't want to tell us. I said something idiotic when you had your coming out. But I never thought Auguste would take it seriously.“  
"What did you tell him?“

Laurent looked down at his brother, who stared at the floor as if he was in a trance.

"I made a joke that he would have to be the one to provide us with grandkids. I didn‘t mean anything by it but you know your brother. Auguste always wants to make everybody happy even he suffers because of it. I need to speak with him. Could you maybe hand him the phone?“

"Sure. Sort it out with him, I think he needs to know he has your approval. Love you, Dad.“  
"I love you too, Laurent.“ 

Then Laurent handed Auguste the phone. His brother looked a bit confused for a second, then he took it and said short greetings. After that was a long silence where Auguste‘s expression changed multiple times while he listened.

"Thank you, Dad. That means a lot to me.“ He said finally with so much relief and heartache written on his face that Laurent squeezed his shoulder from where he stood. 

His eyes found Damen‘s, who already watched him. 

When the nurse entered and asked if they were the group waiting for news on Nikandros Karas, they immediately swarmed her. She smiled politely and informed them that Nik was stable, still in his therian form but would be asked to shift as soon as he woke up. 

"Who of you is Damianos Vallis?“  
Damen smiled tightly at her when he shook her hand.  
"You are listed as his emergency contact. You can visit him, if you want.“

Damen smiled relieved and like the embodiment of sunshine. She looked as if she was struck by thunder. Her mouth fell open in a surprised "Oh." Then he stepped out with her. 

Laurent was surprised when he montioned for Auguste to follow him. His brother was on his feet in mere seconds. He kissed Laurent‘s hair and left the room.

When Damen reappeared some minutes later, Laurent was even more surprised. The big therian came over to his side and sat in the chair that Auguste had vacated.

"What are you doing here?“ Laurent looked down at him in confusion.  
"I convinced her to let Auguste visit instead of me. Nik will appreciate his face a lot more than mine.“ Damen smiled and Laurent felt something squeeze in his chest. 

"Thank you, Damen.“ He was more thankful than ever before for Damen who seemed to understand him without words, seemed to do everything just right.   
"No big deal. Nik will be fine. That‘s all that matters.“ Damen stood and smiled at the rest of the team. "We should all get going. I‘ll inform the Sarge about Nik and we can come back tomorrow.“ 

They seemed reluctant but when Laurent motioned for them to get out of the room they complied. 

Back in the bearcat Damen sat them all down and reassured them. Nik would be fine, they all knew it and Auguste would call as soon as there changed something. They should go eat something substantial and then go home to sleep. 

They went to a junk food drive through and ordered an enormous amount of food. The atmosphere was still filled with worry but also relief and some easy banter provided by Lazar, who bugged Nicaise and flirted with Pallas while Kashel joked back. 

One after the other was dropped off and it got quiet in the huge vehicle.


	7. While I was off in some kind of daydream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I finally get to upload the second part of the chapter I wrote last week (it turned out longer than I anticipated). Thank you all so much for your support and interest. I hope you like the new chapter. Stay safe, stay healthy!

"I need to get some things for Nik and then drive back to the hospital,“ Damen said finally. Laurent nodded. "I can drive you. You are still post shift.“ 

"You don’t have to. I can call an Uber.“ Damen smiled at him tiredly. "You must be exhausted.“

"I know I don’t have to. But I want to and Auguste needs some things anyway. If you agree we can take my car, drive by at your place, and then go to the hospital together?“ 

Damen looked at him in disbelief. The softness and gratefulness in his eyes so evident that Laurent had to look away. "That sounds perfect.“ 

Nicaise, who had already planned to drop Laurent off next smirked at them when they left together.  
He and Isander were the only ones still in the bearcat. He would drop Isander off and then Nicaise would take the car with him and drive it to HQ in the morning.

"If you get to talk to Nik, tell him he is an asshole for pulling such a stunt.“  
"Careful Nicaise, that sounds as if you were worried,“ Laurent teased him and was immediately flipped off. 

"I never said that, jerk.“ With that he drove off and Laurent laughed while he went to the apartment building where Auguste and he lived. They took the elevator to the top floor. 

Damen grinned and shook his head. "I should have known you are a spoiled rich brat.“  
Laurent raised an eyebrow. "I am spoiled? I only say three words ‚Doughnut‘ and ‚Caramel Macchiato‘.“

"Oh my God! That was exactly one time!“ Damen threw his hands up and Laurent rolled his eyes. "It was one time when I was present. I doubt it was the only time it happened.“

"I can‘t change the fact that I have a charming personality.“ It was true. Everybody at HQ loved Damen and it was not a surprise that there was a doughnut and a caramel macchiato ready for him when he went down for his break.

"Yes, and the dimples certainly don‘t hurt in that aspect.“ 

Laurent saw how Damen‘s face transformed. He smiled, a bit predatory, his dimples on full display. It was a killer move. Laurent was just grateful that he was still young, otherwise he might be at risk of a heart attack. 

"You think it‘s my dimples? Not my biceps?“  
"They are a strong argument,“ Laurent admitted while eyeing Damen‘s upper arms with a smirk, "but it‘s definitively your dimples combined with your very charming personality.“ 

He smirked when he looked back up in Damen‘s face again. Whose gaze immediately focused on his mouth. Damen‘s eyes darkened and Laurent felt a wave of arousal wash over him. This look was intoxicating. Damen watched him as if he was the only person on earth that mattered. 

"So you agree that my personality is charming?“ Damen murmured and took a step in his direction.  
"Yes, I like to think of myself as perceptive enough to assess this as a fact.“ 

He had to tilt his head back when Damen came even closer. The therian before him radiated warmth and Laurent wanted nothing more than to burrow himself in those muscular arms. 

Then the elevator doors slid open and they needed to step out.

He went and opened the door to Auguste‘s apartment first, then he threw the key to his own apartment to Damen and said, "If you want you can get a coffee in my apartment. I actually do have a coffee machine. The sugar should be beside the machine.“  
Damen chuckled and went to open his door. 

Laurent threw some clothes and necessities into a bag and then locked again before going to his own apartment. The procedure took no longer than ten minutes. 

Damen was already seated in one of the bar stools at his kitchen bar and drank his coffee. Laurent was overwhelmed with how well Damen fit in his home. Laurent had decorated it all in blue and gold and Damen just looked right seated at his kitchen bar. 

"If you want, I can give you a quick tour.“  
"I’d love that. You have a beautiful home. It’s very fitting.“  
"Agent Vallis, are you flirting with me?“, Laurent teased. While he made his way over to the living room. 

Damen smiled. "If you have to ask, I’m doing a poor job.“  
"I’d not use those words. I am just not accustomed to people flirting with me.“  
"You mean, you are not accustomed to people flirting with you because you shut them up in the first five seconds?“  
"Maybe. I am, in contrast to my brother or you, no big flirt.“ 

He showed Damen his office and then the home gym. There Damen gaped at him. "Are you serious?“  
"It was already there when I bought the apartment last year.“ Laurent shrugged with a grin and Damen chocked out an offended sound. "You… this is living the dream, partner, I think you don’t appreciate it enough.“

"It might be your dream, I would have preferred a library, but I guess, it has its perks.“  
"A library… I can’t even make fun of you because of that. A library would have been cooler for sure.“  
"Really? You don’t seem to be one of the guys who would turn down a home gym in favor of a library.“

"Are you judging me by my looks, agent Leblanc? I wouldn’t have taken you for the type.“ They had wandered over to the guest bedroom. Laurent smiled and shook his head. "No, you are right. I can see you sitting in a rocking chair before the fireplace with a book in your hand and a coffee on the table beside you.“

Damen sighed. "That would be living the real dream. I mean with all the training we get at our job and the open gym there I don’t need one at home.“

Laurent opened the door to bathroom one, "You are right, I don’t use it very often“, and then to bathroom two. 

"This shower has to be heaven.“ Damen stared at the tropic rain shower and Laurent laughed out loud. "If you want, you can hop under it and wear some of Auguste’s clothes until we get you home. I’ll use the other one.“ 

"Are you serious? You would give up the rain shower for me?“  
Laurent laughed at the exaggerated batting of eyelashes from Damen. "I would.“

"This is the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.“ Damen wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. 

"You must have an awful taste in people if it takes only so much to move you to tears.“ Laurent laughed again and motioned behind himself. "I’ll go get you something of Auguste’s to wear.“

"Thank you, partner.“ Damen smiled and started taking off his uniform.  
Laurent’s eyes widened and he almost chocked on his own spit. He turned around, fast, and went to his own bedchamber. 

Auguste lived right next door but he crashed often at Laurent’s and thus had a lot of clothes stored in his younger brother’s closet, which was enormous. So, it had more than enough space. 

He went back to the bathroom, the rain shower had glass walls and while it would not be the first time he saw Damen naked, it would be the first time he saw Damen naked in his own home. 

For gods sake, he needed to pull himself together. There was no water running so maybe Damen wasn’t naked and under the shower yet, maybe some deity had taken pity on him. 

He knocked at the door and Damen promptly called out, "come in.“ Laurent didn’t want to, or to be precise, he wanted it a bit too much for his own good. 

He cautiously opened the door and placed the clothes on the long marble counter that started directly by the door. He was already back out, before he could even catch a glimpse of Damen, it was better for both of them.

Damen looked at the closed door through which Laurent had just fled. He had left without even sparing him a glance. 

Maybe he was uncomfortable with Damen‘s flirtation. But he just wasn‘t able to stop the words that spilled from his mouth whenever he was in the company of the temptation that was also known as Laurent Leblanc. 

He sighed and pushed his pants down over his hips. He wasn‘t self-conscious. His family had their origin in the south of the republic where nakedness was no issue at all. Additionally he was a therian, he needed to strip for every shift. 

So, he wouldn‘t have thought twice of his partner seeing him naked but Laurent never seemed comfortable. His gaze fixated on the ground or the wall or another teammate whenever Damen was naked in his closer proximity. 

He didn‘t want to make the other man uncomfortable in his own home so he stayed dressed in his tactical pants. But he needn’t have worried. 

Laurent had placed the clean clothes on the smooth marble surface and then walked out of the room without laying eyes on him, his still clothed ass or even his naked feet. 

Maybe he was the only one who felt the pull towards his sexy as sin partner. The words "I like my men big and muscular“, echoed in his head but he vehemently shook himself out of it. It was not impossible that Laurent had said that to get rid of the annoying therian and not because it was true. 

He couldn‘t possibly ask him outright. He didn‘t want to gamble away their tentative friendship and trust after the short period of time they knew each other. Not because of his dick that was always taking an interest when he saw Laurent walk into a room. 

Groaning he stepped under the cool water that rained down on him. His brain supplied him with the decidedly unhelpful information that Laurent was just two doors away, naked under the shower. 

He felt himself stir. "Oh for fucks sake. You have to be kidding me“, he ground out angrily and then remembered that the last sex he had was too long ago. 

It was directly after he could move again because he wanted to forget what happened to him. He had wanted to feel alive and in control. 

Needless to say it had ended in a disaster. Not while he had fucked the faceless, nameless woman he had picked up at the grocery store of all places but after. 

After he had showered and left her apartment with a quick goodbye kiss and ill feeling in his stomach, he went to Nikandros and cried like a baby. He hadn‘t stepped foot inside the store after that or had sex since. 

Some months later, after various therapy sessions he didn‘t almost vomit every time he thought about it and then, after he started working again, he was confident that he could accept intimacy and sex again and even enjoy it as much as before the whole mess. 

But he just hadn‘t felt drawn to anyone.  
That was until he met Laurent. 

The cool blue eyes, that seemed to bore into his soul, made his knees weak. The golden hair invited images of a different setting, sprawled over his dark sheets, they would glint like gold in the light of his bedroom. His plush mouth made him think about those sinful lips stretched around his cock. The sharp tongue, never directed at Damen himself, made him imagine how Laurent would be kissing him like there was no tomorrow. 

He needed to stop thinking otherwise he wouldn‘t leave the shower for quite some time. He twisted the knob until the water was ice cold and he could ignore the tightening in his abdomen.

He washed his hair and then stepped out of the shower. There was a neatly folded pile of towels and Damen rubbed one through his curls before wrapping it around his waist. 

Only minutes later he left the bathroom dressed and with the folded uniform in his arms.  
Laurent stepped out of the other bathroom just when Damen had closed the door behind himself. 

The blond man was out of the uniform and Damen loved it. Laurent looked hot like hell in the black thirds uniform but he looked just so much more approachable in the black slacks and pale blue pullover. 

His hair was still a bit wet, but he didn‘t seem to mind. His eyes traveled over Damen‘s form and he tilted his head. "I‘m sorry but that was the biggest shirt I could find.“ 

Damen looked down on himself. The shirt stretched over his chest and arms as if one careless motion would tear it to shreds. It most likely would. He shrugged. "It‘s fine. I am already relieved that Auguste is almost as tall as I am.“

"Yes. That is truly lucky.“ Laurent still stared at him, his eyes unmoving. Damen smiled and Laurent seemed to shake something off of him. He tilted his head minutely and then said, "I‘ll go get you a bag for your uniform and then we can go.“

Not five minutes later Damen sat in Laurent‘s car, his uniform in a beautiful, reusable cotton bag and Laurent starting the motor. He didn‘t expect the car Laurent drove. 

It was a black, sleek Jaguar, he wouldn‘t have taken his partner as someone who bought such a car. Laurent grinned. "Surprised? I love fast cars. And I just had to have this one.“ 

Low music filled the space and Damen was surprised once again when he heard Prince. Laurent laughed, "I love classics. So don‘t look at me like that. Now where do you live?“

"You seriously want me to believe that you don‘t know my address?“ Damen asked in an unbelieving tone of voice and Laurent again chuckled.  
"No. I just wanted to be polite, but if you insist.“ 

The next fifteen minutes where the longest in Damen‘s life. He dug his fingers into the leather of his seat, closed his eyes and prayed he would survive. 

Laurent drove like a fucking maniac. He made cuts where even Nicaise would have raised an eyebrow and Damen was never before more grateful that the young human could handle the bearcat like no other. 

Otherwise Laurent might have had the idea of driving himself and that would certainly result in at least one team member vomiting. 

When they arrived at Damen‘s place he stumbled outside and had to support himself in the roof of the car. Laurent stood on the driver side and watched him with amusement in his eyes. 

"Do you want to kill us?“ Damen gasped and Laurent laughed. "You were never in any danger of dying, Damen. Not while I can help it.“

Damen shook his head. "I don‘t believe you. I almost had a heart attack when you passed this truck. Are you crazy?“

"They are too slow and drive like idiots.“ Laurent went around the car and put one pale hand against his forearm. "Don‘t worry I am an excellent driver. Not even a speeding ticket.“

"This has to be a lie or miracle. I can‘t decide right now.“  
"I will slow down on the way to the hospital, if you insist.“ Laurent smiled sweetly and Damen nodded, grateful. "Please do.“

His partner laughed and then walked to his front door. Damen followed him, not admiring his ass at all, he would never. He unlocked the door to the apartment complex and they went inside. 

He smiled, when Laurent stepped inside and immediately perked up. Damen knew how his apartment looked. Books lay everywhere. "Go ahead, you can browse while I get Nik‘s things.“ 

Laurent grinned and it was a boyish, exited, unguarded thing. Damen felt his heart skip a beat. Before he could suck enough air back into his lungs Laurent was already off. 

"You can enter everywhere, don‘t worry about the closed doors“, Damen called after him but didn‘t get an answer. He went to Nik‘s door as if in a trance and pulled things out without even thinking about his movements. 

When he finished he went back over where Laurent studied the titles of the books in his office. Damen smiled and went to change into his own clothes. 

Just as he pulled the dark red t-shirt over his head, he heard a delighted sound and knew that Laurent had discovered his collection of first editions. 

Stepping out of his bedroom, he went to search for his partner.  
As he had suspected Laurent held a first edition of Harry Potter in his hands and looked as if he held a baby.

"I knew you would like them. I inherited the collection from my mother and did add some of my own. Unfortunately, I can‘t appreciate them like they should be. The job never leaves time for it.“

"I should have come over much much sooner.“ Laurent said reverently.  
"I invited you multiple times but you always declined. I thought you disliked my company.“ Damen only half joked. 

Laurent looked up and tilted his head. "I could never dislike your company, Damen. But I figured that you either wanted to be polite or were joking.“

"Why?“ Damen was flabbergasted.  
"Because you spend your whole day with me and I am not an easy person.“

"But you are!- Okay wait- that came out wrong. What I meant is that I love to be in your company. You are funny, intelligent, compassionate and full of passion for so many things. I love to hear you talk and I sometimes catch myself wanting to tell you something only to realize you aren‘t there.“

Damen fell silent when he registered what he had admitted just now. He rushed to add, "I know we are partners for something over two months now and I don‘t want to crowd you but whenever I invite you somewhere I seriously want you to be there.“

Laurent gaped at him. "You miss me?“ Straight to the point.  
Damen bit his bottom lip and dropped his gaze. "I- well- yes. Fuck. I am sorry I know you have a life outside of work and your clingy partner but I just... I really like your company. You never let me feel like I am crowding you.“

"Because you aren‘t. Damen, I- am sorry. I thought you only wanted to be nice because you are nice to everyone and I assumed- well, I assumed you’d prefer it if I decline.“  
Laurent still looked at him with something akin to disbelief in his expression.

"No. That‘s not what I‘d prefer.“ Damen almost whispered it. He suddenly felt unbelievably vulnerable. 

He knew Jokaste hated it if he implied that he would like to spend more time with her, even after they were in a relationship. Laurent wasn‘t his boyfriend, apparently he didn‘t even think of himself as Damen‘s friend.

"I always wanted to come. I struggled every time I declined your invitation and I always look forward to the nights out with the team because then I have no reason not to come.“ 

Laurent was stepping closer and reached a hand out. His long fingers squeezed Damen‘s shoulder and he smiled. It was a bit shy, a bit insecure and a bit hopeful. "I‘d love to be your friend, Damen.“

"I always thought of you as my friend,“ he admitted. Laurent looked surprised first and then pleased. "Good. That’s good. Now we should go and drop these things off and then we could come back and maybe watch a movie?“

Damen felt the hope bloom in his chest. "Really?“  
"If you want to.“  
"I would like that.“ He grinned and then tugged Laurent by his wrist to the door. 

"I wanted to show you this French movie, I thought you‘d appreciate. I watched it with Nik last weekend and my stomach hurt from laughing.“  
"This sounds like a plan.“ Laurent chuckled and together they got back in the car. 

The drive to the hospital was fortunately less crazy than the one to Damen‘s apartment and he was grateful. He could handle Laurent‘s normal driving style only in small portions. 

When they entered and asked for Nikandros they were informed that he had woken up, shifted and they could visit for a short time if they wanted. Obviously, they wanted. 

Laurent knocked on the door to Nik‘s room and they were called in by Auguste. Nik was awake and smiled at Damen, when he saw him. Damen went over and hugged him gingerly. "You asshole, I was worried sick.“

"I know. I‘m sorry, Damen.“  
"You better be. Even Nicaise was worried.“  
"It looked worse than it was. I just lost a lot of blood. But otherwise I am fine.“

"Yes, sure,“ Damen mocked. Auguste still sat in a chair beside the bed but pressed his lips together tightly. Damen stood up to his full height and squared his shoulders. "What isn‘t he telling us?“

Auguste sighed. He threw Nik an apologetic look and then recounted everything the doctor had told them.  
"Your liver was almost shredded,“ the words left Damen‘s mouth in a whisper. "You almost bled out in the ambulance.“

Nik gritted his teeth. "I am fine. It was almost the case but I was lucky.“  
"I can‘t believe you. And you didn‘t want to tell me.“ Damen felt how he got angry. 

He balled his fists and started to pace. This couldn‘t be happening. He growled, it was a deep and threatening sound. Only Laurent‘s hand on his chest stopped him from yelling the next words, "why didn‘t you want to tell me, Nik? I would have heard anyway. I am your emergency contact.“

"I know, Damen. I just didn‘t want to burden you with a lot of possibilities that never came to happen.“ Nik watched him pleadingly. "Please, Damianos.“

Damen deflated like a soufflé fresh out of the oven beside a bang.  
He looked over to his best friend who looked pale and sick despite his tanned skin. "I am just so happy that you are alright. Don’t do that again, you hear me?“

"I’ll try my best.“ Nik chuckled and closed his eyes for a second. Laurent still stood before Damen and searched his face. 

"Hey, Leblanc.“ Both, Auguste and Laurent, directed their gaze to Nik and he shook his head in exasperation. "I mean the younger one.“ 

Auguste raised an eyebrow in typical Leblanc fashion but stayed silent. "You have my attention“, Laurent said and almost snorted at Nik’s eye-roll.  
"I’d better. You take care of him while I can’t, is that clear?“

Damen, who had an excellent view of Laurent’s face while he heard these words almost laughed out loud. He looked so disbelieving and surprised it was a miracle that his jaw didn’t hit the floor. "You ask ME to look after Damianos’ emotional well-being?“

"Now that you say it, it sounds stupid, but yes, that’s what I want.“  
Laurent nodded, stupefied. "Yes, sure, I guess I will do my best.“  
Now, Nik rolled his eyes so hard, Damen was afraid they would get stuck permanently. 

"I need to have a word with Damen alone. You two go out breaking hearts or go get a coffee or whatever you Leblanc‘s do when you can’t make me suffer.“ He made a tired hand gesture and this resulted in two raised eyebrows from two brothers but they did as they were told and left the room. 

"Damen, you need to be careful.“  
"Oh no, you don’t get to almost die and then tell me I need to be careful.“  
"Okay, first of all, you almost died first and second, if I don’t tell you, nobody does and I know you need to hear it.“

Damen sighed exasperated. "And why would I need to hear it?“  
"Because you have this look on your face when you look at Laurent and that can’t be good.“

"I do?“  
"Yes, you look at him as if he was a double chocolate brownie.“  
"I’d argue this point but I know how to pick my fights. But just for your information, Laurent is at least a triple chocolate brownie.“ Damen said with his serious voice.

Nik snorted. "See? That’s exactly what I mean! Damen, he never spends time with you outside of the job or team events. You need to be realistic.“  
"I am. He told me today he thought I wouldn’t really mean it when I invite him.“

Nik gaped. "What?“  
"Yes, he thought I was being nice and he didn’t want to obtrude.“  
"Of course he did,“ Nik sounded very resigned and then he continued, before Damen could ask, "you are the only person, who is not his brother, whose opinion he cares about, you know?“  
"What?“ Now it was Damen’s turn to gape.

"Yes. I thought so. You have no idea how Laurent is outside of the team, do you? With the team he is actually nice and his insults are always jokes, except maybe when he talks to Lazar, but he cares about the team and all of us care about him. Not least because he is good for you and we all can see how much you care about him and how much he cares in return. But outside of us, he built up a certain- reputation." 

Nik paused, his gaze wary, but also resigned in a way Damen only saw a few times in his life.  
"There are a lot of agents who hit on him when you turn your back and he always shuts them down with few clip words. And if they don’t accept his rejection the first time, he makes sure they do the second time around. I once saw a guy starting to cry, although he deserved it, obviously.“

Damen felt thunderstruck. "Really?“  
"Yes. He doesn’t do flirtations, except for you. You are the only person he flirts back. Well, now that you know, we both know that you can’t let this go and if I have to be honest, I like him better than Jokaste. So, if I can’t keep you from pursuing him, I’ll give you my approval.“

"You do realize that we are not fucking, do you?" Damen grinned and Nik sighed a long-suffering sigh. "Damen, you only do not fuck because both of you are too thirsty to realize that the other one would be on board with it."  
"That is not true."

Nik raised an eyebrow. He had to have learned it from Auguste or maybe Laurent. It was impressive. "Damianos, I saw you walk into a recycling bin because you were too busy staring at Laurent's ass in his yoga pants to pay attention to your surroundings. And he actually said last time in training you looked good under him on the mat." 

Damen sputtered. "I did NOT walk into the recycling bin because I stared at Laurent's ass."  
"You totally did", Nik said deadpan, "because the next thing I knew was how you were whining to me about the perfection of his, admittedly, very shapely butt."

Damen buried his face in his hands when he flushed. "You are the worst. I don't know why you are my best friend."  
"Because I am awesome. Now you should go and bang your partner so both of you can get it out of your systems. It's painful to witness."

"YOU tell ME about painful! Auguste and you are much much worse. You pine after him since he took over his team and you saw him for the first time." Now Nik flushed and averted his gaze. "I just…"  
"Don't try to fuck with me, Nik, you took a swipe of a feral tiger therian for him."

"Okay, I concede defeat. Now, don't you have someone else to bug?" He looked tired and Damen smiled, when he squeezed his shoulder and stood up. "You get back into shape and I will ensure that nobody in our team starts a fire in HQ."

"Good plan. I like it. Watch Lazar and Nicaise, they are your biggest liability. And I can't really gauge if Laurent is the type, but as you two are glued together by the hip, you won't let him out of your sight for long enough to cause serious damage."

"You don't have to worry. I have everything under control."  
Nik still looked skeptical but he nodded, most likely because he was too tired to argue with Damen over something like this. 

"If Auguste is waiting outside, tell him, he can go home if he wants."  
"Will do." Damen said his goodbyes, stepped out of the room and ran into the brothers, who were waiting there. 

"Auguste, Nik says you can go home if you want but I am sure he would be pleased, if you stayed. Laurent, should we go get something to eat before the movie?"  
"You two are going to watch a movie?" Auguste stared at his brother with glee in his eyes.

"Yes, genius, we are. I drove Damen here to bring you your things and we decided that we could watch a movie together afterwards."  
Auguste paled and looked at the other team leader in pity. "He drove?"  
Damen grimaced. "He did. I thought I'd die."

"Yes, that is a common occurrence when Laurent and a car are involved." Auguste grinned at the huff his brother gave. "That's why I drive us to work most of the time. You can't imagine how terrified I was when he drove to work himself every day. One of the biggest advantages of him starting at the THIRDS."

"You are exaggerating. I am an excellent driver." Laurent stated and Damen exchanged a glance with Auguste. "Yes, yes, just try to avoid giving Damen a heart-attack. Have fun you two." Auguste winked and went back to Nikandros.


	8. Can't believe I'm beggin "don't go"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers! Here is the next chapter :) I hope you like it. I thank you all for your support of this story! I love to read your thoughts and opinions and theories. You all are making it worth to write about the two of them to my hearts content. Love to all of you <3.

The two left the hospital and Damen couldn't keep himself from observing his partner closely. "What do you want to eat?"  
Laurent looked up to him, a bit startled. "I don't care. I am not a picky eater."

"You aren't?" Damen grinned.  
"What? I am not." Laurent's blue eyes bore into him. "What did my brother tell you?"

"Oh, nothing. He only showed me a photo with him covered in baby food and you throwing even more into his hair, when he tried to stop you from wreaking havoc."

"I was one year old!" Laurent threw his hands up. "He will never let me live this down and that is just straight out unfair, I can't even remember. But I can tell you another story."

Damen stared at him, Laurent's hair was glinting golden in the light and his lips were pressed together, as if he was lost in thoughts. He was damn beautiful.

"When Auguste was nineteen he got so drunk he vomited in the flowerpot of my mother's peony and then tried to buy her a new one before they came back from their vacation in Kempt. Unfortunately, my brother had no idea about flowers and bought her carnations. She almost cried, the peonies were her favorites."

"Auguste was so horrified he took my father and they came back with a garden rose. Mother laughed so hard, she was in tears and after that she locked her plants in the green house and gave me the only key every time they went away."

Damen gasped for air between two fits of laugher. "I would have loved to see his face."  
"It was priceless," Laurent agreed and unlocked his car. Damen dropped down into the passenger seat, still wheezing.

Laurent drove them back to Damen's apartment, he only honked five times and drove almost the speed limit. Yet, Damen was still grateful when they made it to the apartment in one piece.

He got out on shaky legs. Laurent only shook his head. "I thought you were the fearless team leader of the best team in Unit Alpha? Was that all just talk?"

"You know what? Next time I have to interrogate an uncooperative perp I'll just strap him to the passenger seat of your car and let you drive first avenue after the evening rush." Damen nodded with a grin, as if he made the discovery of the century.

"I think he'll cooperate pretty fast after that, assuming you both survive it. If you don't I'll just say he kidnapped and ambushed you and have a nice explanation why you both died in a car wreck. That's the perfect torture. Nobody could ever prove something."

"You really must think of yourself as funny." Laurent looked unimpressed and closed his car door.  
"I know for a fact that I am. Your poker face can't convince me from the opposite."

Damen opened the door for his partner and Laurent walked in. He threw over his shoulder, "I don't know who told you, but they obviously said that because they wanted to fuck you."  
"What? You wound me. You don't think I'm funny?"

Laurent looked as if he bit into a lemon. "You shouldn't ask me that. I am, obviously, biased. Now, I'll gladly inform you, I'll be in your office, looking at the first edition of Lord of the Rings."

Damen mulled the words over in his head while he watched Laurent walk in his office. A slow smile spread over his lips. Laurent might act as if he was unaffected by whatever was between them, but Damen was pretty sure his partner wasn't as aloof as he wanted to make him believe.

"Laurent, I'm going to order some food. Any preferences?"  
"Something with fish would be great."  
"Got it." Damen ordered from his favorite Indian place and then sat down on his couch with his latest book in his hands and low music playing in the background.

He felt at ease, especially when Laurent came back to the living room, a beautiful illustrated edition of Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" in his hands.

He sat down beside Damen and drew his legs onto the couch. His head was bent over the pages, a concentrated expression on his face.  
Damen couldn't take his eyes off of him.

"What is it, Damen?" Laurent didn't raise his gaze from the page.  
"Nothing."  
"You are a horrible liar, you know that?"

Laurent finally looked up. Damen almost squirmed under his inquiring gaze.  
"I'm just glad that we could talk about the misunderstanding and that you are here right now", he offered, only a half-truth but better than nothing.

Laurent's face softened and he observed Damen closely. "I am glad too." The silver specks in his eyes danced. He was so beautiful.

"By the way, Halvik informed me that our bonding class will be pushed back a month."  
Damen sighed. "That's a pity."

"You actually wanted to go?"  
"Well, I could play with you in my felid form for a day. That sounds like so much fun." The disappointment was even worse because Laurent and his felid weren't familiar with each other yet and that stressed Damen out.

His partner smiled. "If you want to play with me, we can do it without bonding class. We could go to the park or we can go to the training facility and go for a swim, whatever you'd prefer."

"You'd do that?"  
"Obviously. You are my partner, what you want, I want."

If only, Damen thought. If only, then Laurent would now find himself with his back pressed against the couch cushions, being kissed senseless by Damen.

"I hope you know that I'll take so much advantage of you for saying that. I don't have any qualms of using your sympathy against you."

Laurent laughed. "Don't worry. I enjoy playing with large felid. Auguste made sure of it. He spent hours chasing me through the backyard of our parent's home as a kid. I loved those times."

Damen grinned. "He must have been the slowest tiger on earth."  
"Damianos, he let me win." Laurent looked at him as if he was an idiot and Damen gaped. "That was a joke, I teased you."

"I know, I just wanted to see how you'd react." Laurent laughed. He threw his head back and Damen rolled his eyes to keep himself from staring at the pale column of Laurent's throat. "Sure."

"We could ask the rest of the team, if they want to come too. Then you'd have other therians to play with."  
Damen's eyes lit up. "That's a great idea."

They all agreed to meet up at August park and Damen almost vibrated with excitement.

When the food came, Laurent was so fast with paying that Damen could only protest but his partner absolutely ignored him and elbowed him out of the way when he tried to intercept the delivery man. "Let me. You can pay next time."

The delivery guy almost fell over his own feet when he saw Laurent leaning against the door frame and Damen narrowed his eyes and stepped up behind him.

Now the man looked terrified and handed them the food. Laurent watched him go and then turned with a chuckle. "You don't have to protect me. I can handle myself."

"I know, I'm sorry."  
"Don't apologize. I just thought it might be tiring for you to always watch my back."

"That is kind of my purpose in this partnership."  
"Your purpose in this partnership is not glaring at every single annoying person that wants to fuck me."  
Damen sighed. "I know." Unfortunately, that was not his purpose in their partnership. He ignored Laurent's inquiring look

"Come, we should eat."  
They did exactly that and then they went to watch the movie.  
Laurent, as anticipated, loved it and when it was over, Damen got up and walked to the freezer. "Ice cream?"  
"Who says no to ice cream?", Laurent asked as if the answer was clear from the beginning.

Damen felt the laughter bubble up inside him. He loved Laurent's company more with each second they spent together. Every excuse was a welcome reason to keep Laurent by his side.  
He grabbed the chocolate and strawberry ice cream and brought some over.

It was a mistake. Because when he watched Laurent lick his spoon, he couldn't concentrate on his own ice cream at all.  
"Damen, if you don't eat it, it'll melt."  
He nodded mechanically, transfixed and shoved some ice cream in his mouth.

After they finished their dessert, Laurent smiled, stood and said: "I should go home."  
"We'll see each other tomorrow?" It sounded a lot like a question. Damen didn't want him to go home and even as he escorted Laurent to the front door, he felt the yearning for more time with him.

"I promised, didn't I?"  
"Good. I'll come and get you."  
"Your car is still at HQ."  
"I'll swing by at HQ for a first report to Halvik and after I'll come and get you."

Laurent laughed. "Just admit it, you don't want to sit in a car with me driving."  
Damen shrugged. "That's true."

"Well then, I'll see you tomorrow. Don't be late." Laurent looked up to him and the lion therian felt how his heart beat almost out of his chest.  
"I'd never dare to be late."

"Good. I had a lot of fun tonight.“  
"Me too." Damen had to shove his hands in the pockets of his trousers to keep himself from reaching out when Laurent turned and left for his car. Gods, he wanted the man more than anyone else before.  


He was laying in his bed and thinking of Laurent when his phone buzzed. **Do you prefer burger or Chinese food post shift?**

Damen almost laughed. _Burgers, they are faster to eat. Why do you ask?_

**The park has different restaurants right on it's outline and I need to know where I need to make reservations.**

_That is so sweet of you._

**Stop it, Damen. You'll make me blush.**

Damen laughed out loud.

_I'd love to see that. Not even Nicaise can make you blush and he made the whole of unit Alpha blush already, even your brother._

**I don't blush, ever. Didn't you hear, ice flows through my veins and blushing requires a minimal amount of warm blood.**

_You are killing me. Was that a joke? I think you are hilarious._

**Now you flatter me. But I am not some easy-to-impress college boy or girl, Damianos. You can stop it.**

Damen grinned. _I know that you aren't. That's exactly why I am doing it. How did you formulate it? "I like my men big and muscular and capable of fucking me into the mattress for hours", were the words if I remember correctly. Well, I like my partners to be able to take it._

After he sent it without thinking, he wanted to slap himself. What did he do just now?

**Well, at least I don't have to ask if you are flirting anymore. Blatantly hitting on me, that's what you do.**

Seconds later came another message. **Not that it's not entertaining.**

_Now I am entertaining. I must be off my game._

**Not at all, I'm just rather hard to impress.**

_I know. Nik told me one of the agents started crying after you were finished with him._

**"No" was apparently missing in his vocabulary. I made sure he remembered it.**

Damen sighed dreamily. _That's an important word in anyone's vocabulary._

**It is, isn‘t it? I took the liberty of educating him of that fact.**

_He should feel honored that you took pity on him._ Damen grinned when he wrote back.

Then his phone rang.

„Yes?“ "I just need to ask you if you are being sarcastic.“ Laurent‘s voice was full of laughter and Damen loved it.

"I assure you, I am as serious as I can be.“  
"Good to know. Now I can set my phone on silent and go to sleep with good consciousness.“

"You could do that. Or you could tell me about this prank Nicaise pulled on Lazar last week."  
"What leads you to believe that I was involved?"

"A computer was involved."  
"And?" Laurent sounded as if he grinned.

Damen imagined him, sitting on his couch, grinning widely while talking on the phone.  
"Laurent, we both know that you are the genius of the team."

"You think I am a genius?" Laurent asked amused.  
"Well, yes. I know for a fact that you are a genius. I saw your results from the training program. My own father can‘t stop talking about how great you are.“

Laurent chuckled. "I am pretty great. Your father is a wise man. Did you finally read my file? Couldn't keep your curiosity in check anymore?"

Damen felt himself blush. "I… well… I might have peeked." He winced when he admitted it.  
Laurent on the other end of the line laughed. "You don't have to be embarrassed about it. I read your file as soon as I had access to it."

"You did?"  
"I wanted to know more about who you were."  
"You could have asked me."

There was a pregnant silence on the phone, before Laurent said, "I know that now, but then I thought you didn't want people up in your personal business. I wouldn't have wanted that. We were strangers and you had your partner betray you just months before. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable."

Damen felt his heart skip a beat. His insides almost melted to goo over Laurent's sincere worry. "You can ask me everything. I am your partner and your friend and I trust you."

"You are too trusting, Damen. I will try my best to not let you down." Laurent sighed then and changed topics, "should I bring something tomorrow? Auguste loves it if I brush his fur."

Damen perked up immediately. He loved to be petted in his felid form, well, to be honest, he loved to be petted in his human form too. "That sounds nice. If you wouldn't mind."  
Laurent replied, "I don't mind. I enjoy it too. Now I am going to sleep, until tomorrow, Damen."

"I look forward to it." Damen was almost breathless with anticipation.  
"Me too." Laurent disconnected the call and Damen buried his face in a pillow, a silly grin on his lips.  


The next day Damen got up early jogged to HQ, showered, reported to Halvik and then drove to Laurent.

His partner opened the door immediately and ushered Damen inside. "Do you want something to drink?"

Damen stared at him. Laurent's hair was glinting golden in the sunlight that shone through the high windows; he wore a dark red shirt that clung to every curve and dip of his upper body and black, fitting jeans. When he turned, Damen's mouth was suddenly as dry as the desert.

He snapped his gaze back up so fast he almost got whiplash. "I'll take a glass of water."

"Sure. You want a picture?"  
Damen realized that his eyes had traveled down to the pert behind again and he asked, distractedly, "A picture of a what?"

"Of my ass, Damianos. You seem very distracted." Laurent's facial expression was amused, when Damen quickly looked back up.  
He shrugged, a bit embarrassed. "I would very much want a picture. The view is phenomenal."

This made Laurent laugh. He poured Damen a glass of water and set it down on the kitchen counter.  
"You really are a shameless flirt. Now, I need to go get my things, and then we can go."

Damen drank his water while he waited for Laurent. He really would like a picture that was no joke, although it might be better that Laurent interpreted it as one.  
Up until now he never was on the receiving end of Laurent's wrath and he would prefer if it stayed that way.

Laurent came back with a sportsbag slung over his shoulder.  
"Ready when you are", he said and Damen grinned.  
"Let's go. I can't wait."

In the park there were shifting cabins, like in every other public part of the city. Delpha, and Marlas in particular, were always places of equality and tolerance, even before the Artesian republic when there were two countries.

Damen went to shift, while Laurent waited outside. They were early so they could take their time with setting everything up before the rest of the team showed up.

He stripped out of his clothes, folded them neatly to a pile and stuffed them into the sports-bag he had brought with him. Then he started to shift. Damen felt his bones crack, his fur piercing his skin. The pain was excruciating. A cry tore through him when his tailbone elongated and he fell to all fours.

When the shift was finally done, he pushed the door open with his head, the bag in his mouth.  
Laurent smiled at him, took the bag and rubbed his ears. "Hello there again. Do you want to lie down in the sun or shade?"

Damen loved the sun, especially in his felid from but he saw Laurent's pale skin and knew, it would not be a good idea to sit down in the sun. 

He nudged Laurent towards a place below a group of trees and his partner laughed.  
"Very well then, let's go."  
Damen trotted beside Laurent, who continued to rub his head.


	9. I was a player

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers. I am so happy that you liked the last chapter. I hope you all will have an amazing weekend!

Laurent spread the plaid on the grass in the shade of the trees and sat down. Damen flopped down beside him. He was massive. One big, golden mountain of muscles, fur and dark mane. 

Laurent chuckled, when he nudged his hand with his nose. "Don't worry, I didn't forget about you. I just thought I could brush your mane first."  
This immediately seemed to satisfy the big lion therian, as he gave a rumble and laid his head in Laurent's lap. 

He was beautiful and intimidating at the same time. Laurent was in awe. He always admired his therian brother, loved his felid half just as much as his human one, played with him all the time and felt save and protected independent of Auguste's form.

Aleron too. Whenever he shifted, Laurent used to climb all over him, bury his hands in his fur and drool all over the tiger, when he ultimately dozed off. There were many pictures of Laurent, rolled up between the two large tiger therians, who wrapped around him.   
Hennike still thought it to be the most adorable sight.

With Damen it was not different. Damen might be in his felid form but he was still Damen. He was Laurent's partner, one of his friends, he made Laurent's heart race with every single smile that brought out his dimples. 

Now he purred on every exhale while Laurent started to comb through his mane, mindful of any knots, never tugging. Damen's purring got louder and he closed his eyes in contentment.

Laurent continued with the petting, when he was finished with the mane, he laid the comb to one side and rubbed Damen's head.   
"Don't fall asleep on me, Damen. You are way too heavy for that." 

Damen rumbled and moved his head away with reluctance.   
Laurent laughed. "I meant you shouldn't fall asleep at all. The team should arrive every minute and then Lazar will pounce on you if you are not alert enough to stop him."

Damen made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sigh. Then he sat up and started to observe their closer perimeter. Laurent combed his fingers through the thick, golden fur. 

It was a beautiful day. It was warm but not hot, the breeze rustled the leaves and there were children playing while their parents watched over them.

Some wolf therians chased each other over the grass and two bear therians fought a play-fight. It was peaceful and calm and Laurent felt how he relaxed. His fingers drew patterns on Damen's fur and he smiled when the big lion rubbed his head against Laurent's.

Then Damen licked a long stripe over his cheek and Laurent grimaced. "Seriously, why do you felids have to do that?" 

Damen looked at him, unimpressed and just licked him again.   
Laurent snorted inelegantly. "Very well, do what you want." He knew resistance was futile.

He saw the glint in Damen's eyes before he was sprawled on his back and the lion therian started licking all over his face, rubbing his head against Laurent's chest and rumbling in contentment. 

"You are a menace, Damianos." Laurent tried to sound stern but his laughter ruined the effect.  
One big paw stopped him from getting up and Laurent didn't try to struggle anymore. At least Damen stopped licking his face.   
Laurent smiled at him and combed his hands through the thick mane. 

That's when he heard the laughter. Nicaise laughing like a crazy person registered in his brain and Damen finished his grooming session with one last head rub.

Laurent sat up and saw Nicaise giggling from a safe distance. He looked as if he was having the time of his life. What Laurent also saw was Lazar in his tiger form creeping up on his unsuspecting partner. 

He pounced on Nicase, who tumbled to the ground, swearing loudly. "Lazar, you asshole!"  
Now it was Laurent's turn to laugh. Nicaise deserved it.

Pallas came over and Laurent scratched his chin.   
"These two are ridiculous.“ Pallas huffed, as if in agreement, and then lay down. Lykaios and Kashel sat down beside Laurent. 

"You two seem cozy,“ Kashel observed.  
Laurent shoved Damen and said, "this one seriously wanted me do drown in lion saliva.“ 

Damen, who as reaction just flopped down with his head in his lap, didn‘t give another fuck.   
Lykaios laughed. "This shows just how much he likes you.“ 

Isander was the next one to arrive with Vannes on his heels. The leopard therian bounded over to where Lazar was laying on top of Nicaise.   
She pounced on him so that he rolled off the young man. Lazar swatted her with one paw but Vannes was faster and jumped on his back. 

They all giggled. It looked very entertaining. Especially when Lazar stood up and just walked over, Vannes still on his back. She hopped down and greeted everyone with a nudge of her head. Lazar dramatically threw himself over Pallas, who only huffed again, and then ignored the antics of his teammate.

"It's good to see you happy, Damen", Kashel said to the lion therian in Laurent's lap. He raised his head and nuzzled her hair.   
Kashel laughed. "Don't you dare lick me, Damen. Do that to your partner." 

Pallas observed them closely.   
It was well known how possessive felid THIRDS agents got over their human partner. 

He whined from under Lazar and Kashel smiled and rubbed his ears.   
"Yes, yes you big bad tiger. You are my favorite felid therian in the whole world."

Damen once again flopped down in Laurent's lap. However, when Lazar nudged him and then growled playfully, he raised his head slowly. 

When Lazar nipped at his tail, he got up and went off to chase Lazar over the grass. Pallas went to help him and together they cornered Lazar. Vannes went to play with them too and they started some kind of tag. 

It was hilarious. Lykaios, Isander and Kashel were in tears of laughter. Nicaise shouted insults and tips towards them. Laurent watched them fondly. 

Lykaios leaned over and said: "I'm glad you two work out so well."  
"What do you mean?"

"Well, before you, with Jokaste, he never could be this playful. She hated it if he wanted to play or if he gave in to his felid half, all the rubbing up on her and licking her face, she never tolerated it. He is after all a lion therian, she thought it to be undignified. It is a fact, that he is intimidating and professional and takes his job very seriously." 

"Felids however need some playtime, we could see that he was unhappy. I talked to her because my partner is also a lion therian and we somehow bonded over that fact. Jokaste tried her best after that but she couldn't understand his behavior and was a bit put off by his more felid traits."

Laurent hummed thoughtfully. He tilted his head while watching Damen pin Pallas to the ground and grooming him. "I think it can be quite irritating if you don't know about their nature but that should wear off after some months, shouldn't it? Especially because there is the bonding class of the THIRDS."

"She was no warm person."  
"Most people would say the same about me."

Lykaios smiled at him and shrugged. "You can be warm and loving and caring, you just chose the people who can see that side of you carefully."  
Laurent dragged a hand through his hair. "Thank you.“

She patted his upper arm with a warm smile still on her lips then she stood. "Now, we should go and play with them. Otherwise they will come drag us over.“ 

Laurent followed her and together they made their way to their fellow team members. Damen immediately zeroed his focus on Laurent. The blond man shook his head. 

"No, Damianos, you can‘t be serious. It‘s not funny if you are serious. You have to pretend to be at the same speedlevel as I am. We both know I don‘t stand a chance.“

Damen apparently gave zero fucks and he started to speed up. Laurent could only turn around and run. The laughter that bubbled up inside of him made his escape a lot harder. 

Damen had him pinned to the ground in seconds and Laurent gasped for air. He could not stop the laughter from spilling over his lips, Damen huffed and his breath ruffled Laurent’s hair. He rolled him onto his back and Laurent started petting his partner.

"You should consider the fact that I need to go into a restaurant with these clothes. If there are gras stains everywhere you will be held accountable for that.“ Laurent only whispered the words but Damen lifted his head and stared into his eyes, concerned. 

He actually moved off and Laurent could sit up, only to be crowded by Vannes. That seemed to go down rather badly with Damen, who actually growled at her. Laurent chuckled and stood up. 

"Who‘s hungry?“, he called over to the rest of the group and immediately all heads perked up.   
"Well, if that is the case, I made reservations in approximately half an hour. You guys should shift back while we clean everything up.“

They did as directed and the human part of the team was ready to offer PSTC as soon as their therian partners were shifted back. 

Damen, as always, only bothered with dressing in his pants but nothing else, like for example a shirt.

"Why is your aversion towards clothes so distinctive?“ Laurent grinned, when he entered the shifting cabin.   
Damen held his head in his hands and groaned. 

"Don’t strain yourself. Wait, I have gatorade.“ He lifted the bottle to Damen’s lips and only stepped back when the whole content was gone. 

"I don’t have an aversion. It’s just that in the south, where I grew up, clothes are not that important. I mean, it’s hot all through the year, in the hottest months you are practically being grilled on the streets. Clothes are not necessary and only for modesty reasons.   
As a therian even more so. Shifting requires us to be naked and thus it would be quite inconvenient if I had a problem with being naked. I seriously never understood why you people from the north have to wear turtlenecks all the time.“ 

Laurent rolled his eyes and handed Damen a protein bar.  
"Let me assure you, I look fabulous in a turtleneck. But to be honest, I think our reasons are mostly the same as yours. We are simply adapting to the environment. In Arles, where I grew up by the way, it’s always a bit chilly. The more you can wear the better. Also, it gives us something mystical.“

Damen snorted, swallowed and stood slowly. "Mystical- as if you’d need it.“ He swayed on his feet and Laurent hurried to steady him. 

He held his partner up with one arm slung around his hips, the other pressed to his chest and when Damen gripped his shoulder, both of them seemed to realize how close they were. 

Laurent slowly looked up, he felt Damen’s heat under his palm, the therian was as hot as a furnace. Damen had his gaze focused on Laurent and his pupils were visibly delated. 

"You don’t think mystical would suit me?“ Laurent’s voice was so quiet it was almost a whisper.  
"I never said that.“ Damen reached up, one hand cradled Laurent’s cheek and he brushed a thumb over the sharp bone there. "I just said, you don’t need it.“ 

His gaze dropped to Laurent’s lips.   
"Really now?“ The blond teased lightly.   
"Yes. Really.“ Damen lowered his head and Laurent wanted him so badly. 

He tightened his grip around the massive form and tilted his head back. Damen’s heart beat rapidly under his palm, he knew his own wasn’t any better, the suspense almost killed him. Damen was so close now, he could feel his breath on his lips.

"What are you two doing in there? Get out, I am hungry.“ They both froze when Nicaise banged against the door. Damen was still only inches away and Laurent closed his eyes, trying to get himself under control again. 

It was easier said than done. Damen was so warm, he didn‘t want to let go. He wanted to stay like this for just a moment longer. He felt Damen's lips brush over his forehead. It was better than nothing.

He let go of his partner, threw him his shirt and Damen quickly dressed, not two minutes later they were out of the shifting cabin. 

Lazar gloated when they exited the cabin. "He did interrupt you two, didn’t he?“

"He interrupted me while getting fully dressed.“ Damen threw Nicaise a stern look and Lazar almost toppled over laughing.

"He totally did. OMG. What were you doing in there?“ His gaze fell on Laurent, who looked just as immaculate as before he entered. 

The blond man shrugged.   
"We were fucking.“ His tone was so serious it took a moment to register with Damen what he had said. 

Lazar pouted. "No need to be sarcastic.“  
"What does lead you to the assumption that I am being sarcastic?“

"Your devious nature but also the fact that you look so put together. And the little detail that you two got out of there after less than twenty minutes. If you include the most basic PSTC and dressing that would leave you with a maximum of five minutes. And I know that Damen likes to take his time.“

Laurent’s eyebrows shot up. Lazar grinned happily.   
He rubbed his hands together like a comic villain. "Nobody told you? This is going to be great!"

Damen groaned. "Lazar, please. Could you stop trying to scare my partner away?"  
Lazar only shrugged. "You had long enough to break it to him gently. Yet, you obviously didn't and now my time has come." 

Damen sighed, he turned to Laurent and put one hand on his shoulder in a dramatic gesture. "Don't believe everything he tells you."  
Laurent's eyebrows crept even higher. "Now I am intrigued."

Lazar grinned from ear to ear. "Well, what you didn't know about our team leader is that he is the biggest player on this planet. He has had fling after fling. One time he fucked this visiting defense agent from Ios for seven hours."

"It was eight, and a long time ago", Damen interrupted. Laurent looked him up and down with an incredulous expression in his eyes.

"It was two and a half years ago, shortly before you got Jokaste into bed, finally." Lazar grinned so self-satisfied it was a miracle he didn‘t pull something.

Nicaise snorted. "As if he had to do more than bat his eyelashes at her and flex his biceps. We both know she would have fucked him a lot sooner. She thirsted after the pride of Unit Alpha for years. She just needed to play her cards right in order to get the brother too."

"Wow. Way to drag someone down," Damen said with mock hurt. The truth was, in the last weeks, he had all but forgotten about Jokaste. Laurent occupied each and every single of his waking thoughts. And if he was completely honest a lot of his dreams.

The man was not only beautiful, no; he was interesting, passionate and intelligent beyond measures. Damen always had a thing for intelligent people and Laurent was fascinating and so nice to him. He knew, from other people and also from what he could see, that Laurent was not as nice to others as he was to him.

He was falling for his partner and he knew, he couldn't stop it. He was beyond hope of salvation.

"Well, your ex-fiancée was a cruel bitch, Damianos. You have to accept the truth. I won't stand on the sidelines any longer and watch you mourn a heartless monster. You are better off without her and now you really need to stop moping around." Nicaise threw him a glare and Damen realized that his young teammate really thought he was still broken hearted.

"I am not moping, Nicaise. Really. I am fine and I think you are right."  
This seemed to take the younger man by surprise. "What?"

They arrived at the restaurant and Laurent went inside to announce their arrival to the personnel. He had asked for a table outside, as the day was warm and no felid liked to feel caged, what was often the case inside tiny restaurants, like the one they now visited.

Damen loved how considerate the man was. He seemed to be able to anticipate stressful situations and avoid them with consideration for the other parties involved.

"I think you are right, I am better off without her and I can assure you, I am not moping or depressed."

"You are not lying," Nicaise sounded surprised. "But how come you didn't pick anyone up the last few times we were in Bally? Or somewhere else for that matter. Gabe from Recon practically threw himself at you and he is exactly your type."

Damen couldn't stop his gaze from falling onto Laurent, who seemed to talk to the restaurant manager. He smiled politely and the man was absolutely taken by him, blushing furiously and nodding along to whatever the younger man had to say. 

Damen redirected his eyes to Nicaise and his attention to their conversation. "Why can't I just have grown out of meaningless affairs? And Gabe is not exactly my type, whatever that should be."

Nicaise sneered. "Now everything makes sense. For fucks sake."  
"What?"  
"Well, obviously Gabe has not a chance with you because everybody pales in comparison with Laurent, isn't that it? You picked nobody up because you want to fuck Laurent and nobody else."

Damen opened his mouth to protest and Nicaise only shook his head. "No need to deny it. I saw that look."

Lazar let one of his forearms rest on Nicaise’s shoulder and grinned at Damen. "You know how to pick them. Let's just hope he is more invested in your wellbeing than your ex."


	10. So good at bad behavior

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers!   
> Here is the next chapter. This time from Lazar's point of view.  
> I hope you like it.   
> Theories about the gaps are welcome! The next (and last) chapter is already written and I will upload it sometimes this week.  
> It will explain parts of this chapter a bit better, as it is written out of Damen's POV (thus, if you are confused, no problem the next chapter will give you more intel about our two favorite agents :P).  
> There WILL be part III. In which you can read about the bonding class. So stay tuned.  
> I would love to welcome you in part III too!

Most people might think Lazar was an idiot and that was just how Lazar himself wanted it. It meant they underestimated him. 

Nobody cared if he meddled with their business because he always did meddle with everyone‘s business and not even once had he taken advantage without a proper reason. 

Everyone knew he was a flirt, people either loved or hated him for his humor and all of them thought that he couldn‘t be taken seriously. 

Lazar knew all that and used it to full capacity. That was until Laurent Leblanc joined their team. His newest teammate seemed to be the only one who didn‘t underestimate him for his big mouth and flirty advances. 

Not that he ever verbally acknowledged it, but whenever he needed an accomplice in dire times he involved Lazar. Like the one time this agent insulted Damen before a briefing and Pallas and Nicaise talked Laurent down from a very uncharacteristic fit of anger. 

Not half a day later, Laurent stood in his office and demanded intel on the guy as if Lazar had personal files of all the officers in unit Alpha. Not that this was far off the truth. 

Gladly he gave Laurent everything he knew, every single little dirty secret he knew about the agent. Laurent had smirked like the devil and a week later the asshole of agent had taken a longer vacation for personal reasons. Sometime later Lazar had heard that said agent couldn‘t touch an electric devise without breaking it anymore.

It was easy to admit that Lazar loved Laurent.   
Not that this was the case from the beginning. No, because Lazar loved Damen too and he knew how dangerous Laurent could be for his team leader with the soft heart. 

When Laurent had entered the stage on his first day Lazar had almost laughed out loud. He had watched with morbid fascination how Damen‘s eyes had zeroed in on the blond beauty and how Laurent had smiled, as if he knew he could get Damen to jump from a cliff for him.

He had decided to observe the whole thing from a save distance, which meant no distance at all in Lazar‘s case, and if necessary threaten Laurent to stay away from Damen. 

Lazar had seen first hand what Jokaste had done to Damen. At least Laurent couldn‘t fuck another brother. 

The betrayal had dimmed the light in Damen‘s eyes. Damen had more experience with death and tragedy than most of their team. He had more than fifteen years of experience, was the pride of unit Alpha. 

Everybody admired him, every rookie wanted to be like him. He was the example of a perfect agent. Strategic yet compassionate, a person able to handle everything thrown their way. 

But Jokaste and Kastor had almost brought him to his knees- and not in the good way. They had almost killed him. 

Never in his life before had Lazar been as scared as when he had seen Damen lie on the hard concrete, the blood pooling under him, his brother standing over him, trying to rip him to shreds. 

After, months later, Damen had been sad and hurt. Lazar had seen how Damen forced a smile on his face that was nothing but poor imitation of the dazzling grin he normally showed the world. 

But he had also been angry and that was the worst of it. Damen hadn‘t been angry at the world or at his brother or even Jokaste, no, he had been angry with himself. 

He thought it was his fault for taking the place as favorite of their father from Kastor, not giving Jokaste the space she needed, for not realizing sooner what was going on, for loving as unconditionally as he did. 

It broke Lazar‘s heart to see his team leader question all of himself over these two pieces of shit. 

Obviously he was weary of Laurent. And he was not the only one. Actually, only Kashel and Pallas seemed to be absolutely delighted that Laurent joined them. 

When Lazar had asked, Pallas had only shrugged one of his perfectly sculpted, broad shoulders and said that Laurent was Auguste’s brother and just look at the guy, if someone could be as cheerful and at the same time dote on his brother like that, the brother couldn‘t be a bad person.  
Lazar had seen his point but wasn‘t persuaded yet. 

The change of opinion came subtly at first. 

He observed how Laurent always brought Damen his dearly loved sugary beverage that their team leader called coffee (which it wasn‘t, it was closer to sugar cubes than coffee). 

He saw how Laurent turned at least part of his focus towards Damen whenever he entered a room. 

He heard how Laurent rebuffed every single advance outside of his team, how he distanced himself from others but seemed to let Damen in without even thinking about it. 

That was the reason Lazar decided to watch them more closely. He could coerce Kashel to come with him as his diversion tactic and they started to follow their teamleader and his partner around. What he found surprised even himself. 

Laurent was like another person with Damen. He laughed, smiled and didn‘t shy away from Damen‘s touch. And there were a lot of touches, always initiated by Damen, who was a touchy-feely kind of person, but never rejected by his partner. 

Laurent was warm, forgiving, caring and indulging whenever Damen was concerned. And he wasn’t the only one who noticed. The whole team saw how Laurent treated Damen differently. 

For most of them it was enough to not be worried whenever Damen’s face softened, his whole body turned towards his partner, his eyes didn‘t stray away from Laurent. 

Lazar, on the other hand, had thought he would witness Damen running towards his own demise, eyes wide open. 

He had thought Laurent saw in Damen another brother. The similarities between the two team leaders of Ambush Alpha and Beta Fire were striking. 

And then he listened. Actually, Kashel forced him to listen, smart woman. 

Laurent was the most intelligent person Lazar had ever met, and he knew Nicaise. But Laurent‘s intellect was unrivaled. His tongue as sharp as his eyes and he never said things he didn‘t mean.   
And the way he talked with Damen spoke volumes.

He was never short, always mindful of Damen's feelings. He didn't snap at him even under pressure and this despite the fact that Laurent normally was no patient man. For Damen he changed his whole behavior.

The lion therian changed too. He didn't flirt with other people anymore, something that had never happened before, not even when he was together with Jokaste. But Lazar already knew that Damen was whipped. 

What he didn't know before was that Laurent was just as taken by his partner. He actually flirted back. Their banter was ridiculous and provided entertainment for days. Lazar enjoyed stalking them a lot more than he expected. They were hilarious and cute at the same time.

Around this time, he overheard a conversation between Auguste and Laurent, where Auguste asked his brother if he was serious about Damen.

"Auguste, don‘t you dare try to pull off your big brother routine. You know Damen, knew him for years before I met him. If I am serious, would he really be a bad choice?“

"No. He wouldn‘t. In fact, I think he would be the best choice for you. One of the few men I wouldn‘t worry about your happiness.“  
Laurent had laughed and then answered, "not that I am admitting to anything.“

"Yes. I know. You wouldn‘t be the Laurent I know if you showed your hand too early in the game. Just- Laurent, Damen is not known to be someone to hold back. If you give him hope, he will fall hard and fast.“

Laurent had hummed. "Yes, I am beginning to see that.“  
Lazar was glad that Auguste was not only Laurent‘s brother but also Damen‘s friend. One worry less he had to concern himself with.

And then, the cluster-fuck of a mission had happened where Nik was injured. He had seen how Laurent had taken control over the situation. How he had calmed his feral brother, had brought him to PSTC and later had kept Damen from falling apart. 

For Damen, Nik was the most important person in his life. They knew each other since kindergarten, Damen skipping the first year, they went to school together and when Damen had started at the THIRDS, it had been Nik's goal to stand by his best friend's side. Nik was Damen‘s brother in every way but blood.

Damen had come out of the PSTC tent more composed than Lazar would have ever dreamed. Laurent by his side.

When he had seen how Damen had leaned into Laurent after they had gotten the news of Nik's stable condition, he knew that there had to be a lot more than just a fleeting infatuation between them. Especially, when Laurent had brushed his finger's through Damen's curls without realizing it.

And all of this lead to this exact moment in time, where they were invited to playtime in the park. Lazar stared at the message on his phone in confusion. It was from Laurent, that was confusing enough, but there stood the words, 

**Please, would you indicate a suitable time for you to meet us in August park tomorrow? Bring your PSTC kit.**

Was he going crazy now?  
When Nicaise called him five minutes later, he was still in his stupefied shock. "Hello?"  
"Hello idiot, did you see the message? Is Laurent sick?"

How he loved his partner and his insults. He would never be bored with Nicaise in his life.  
"I saw. I don't know."  
"Wow. You sound even dumber than normally. Did he kill off the last of your brain cells?"

"Maybe. Come pick me up tomorrow? I'll write him that we'll be there at 10 AM."  
"Perfect. Don't be late or I will burn down your house."  
"I wouldn't dare be late."

When they arrived at the park the next day, Lazar was curious to see how Laurent and Damen interacted with Damen in his felid form. Jokaste had hated it, but Laurent had Auguste. A tiger therian and his most beloved brother.

He shifted and followed Nicaise, who suddenly stopped and laughed like a lunatic. Lazar followed his gaze and saw Laurent sprawled on his back, Damen rubbing his head against his chest and his partner combing his fingers through the dark mane of the massive lion.

It was so damn sweet, he thought he would get diabetes just from looking.

He pounced on his still laughing partner, who started cursing him out. He played with Nicaise and Vannes, it was more fun than he had had in the last year combined.

When he went over to the rest of his team, he sprawled over Pallas, who smelled so damn good. Why couldn't the other tiger therian just have sex with him? 

He rubbed his head against Pallas', who returned the affectionate gesture, even licking his cheek.

He just enjoyed the warmth and love in the air. Then he saw how Damen flopped down and laid his head in Laurent's lap. Laurent, who smelled like Damen and possessiveness and knew nothing about it, just brushed his fingers through the golden fur.

It was time to see how serious Damen was. He nipped at his tail, asking him to play. Damen seemed reluctant but couldn‘t let it go, he stood and chased Lazar around. However, he always kept him away from Laurent whenever Lazar made a move in this direction. 

When Damen chased Laurent down and started grooming him again Lazar wasn‘t surprised in the least. What surprised him was Laurent‘s laughter and Damen‘s deep, satisfied rumble. It was good to hear but even better were the words reservation and restaurant that left Laurent‘s mouth as soon as he could get back on his feet.

They went to the PSTC cabins, Lazar shifted, Nicaise came to help him drink and eat. He was sweet, the only time he ever was sweet to Lazar was at PSTC but that was enough for the tiger therian to know that his partner loved him. 

When they came back out, Lykaios was typing on her phone. Most likely messaging Nik, who seemed bored out of his mind whenever Auguste wasn't by his side.

Lazar would have to kick their asses if the two didn't get their act together soon. However, what was even more interesting was that even after Pallas and Kashel, and Isander and Vannes came back out of their cabins, Laurent and Damen were still nowhere to be seen. 

Nicaise seemed to think the same. He banged at the door like the impatient little imp he was.

They came back out, Damen looking very disgruntled, Laurent unaffected. Something about that bugged Lazar. 

"He did interrupt you two, didn't he?" He really hoped the answer was a 'yes'. That would mean they finally were on the way to fucking. It was astounding how the two of them could hold back.   
Never would he have thought it to be possible to have such self-control.

Damen's face told him all he needed to know. However, when Laurent answered, dead-pan, "we were fucking." Lazar knew it wasn't what he hoped for. 

At least he got the opportunity to tell Laurent all about Damen's life as player. It was surprising but the man didn't look put out in the least, no with each new story his smirk got a little bigger.

When Damen started to argue with Nicaise, Laurent didn't even try to stop Lazar, which was all the encouragement he needed. 

He told Laurent about the one time where Damen went to Bally with them and left in the first two minutes with a busty blonde by his side.   
Laurent's eyebrows shot up. "Where were his manners?"

"They disappeared the moment she almost went to her knees right at the entrance of the club."  
Laurent grinned, then he went to the restaurant to get their table. 

When Lazar heard how Damen finally admitted to his crush on Laurent, he wanted to squeal like a teenager, however, he needed to back his partner up, at least a little bit.   
"You know how to pick them. Let's just hope he is more invested in your wellbeing than your ex."

Not that he doubted that. Whatever Laurent might want with Damen, Lazar knew that the man would jump from a cliff for Damen without even asking how deep the water was or how far down it would go.

When they sat down, he ensured that he could sit beside Laurent, he needed more intel on the feelings of the blond man and nothing would keep him from getting them. 

Damen pouted while Laurent looked unsatisfied, at least until Damen sat down right across from him. Both of them stared at the other one in love sick fascination. It was horrible to see, at least when you knew that they still didn't have sex, at least Lazar thought so.

It was fun to see how the look on the face of his team leader went from exasperated to embarrassed to amused while Lazar told all different kind of stories to Laurent about Damen's escapades. 

The highlight was his story with the triplets. 

Obviously, he knew what happened. He was a good friend of Nera and she loved to tell him, and everybody else for that matter, that her night with Damianos Vallis had opened her eyes to true pleasure.

It was almost enough praise to peak Lazar's interest but no, he didn't want all the drama that came with fucking his team leader. Thank you, nope, he let that position open for Laurent. 

He knew that Damen was just not for him, even when the sex had to be mind blowing. They were not each other's type and as much as Lazar loved Damen, he really didn't want to fuck him.

However, he loved to tease his team leader, who looked beyond embarrassed when Lazar waggled his eyebrows and involved him in the conversation.

What came somewhat unexpected was the quarrel the two had when they returned from paying the bill.   
"What is going on over there?“ Nicaise sounded worried although he tried to hide it under the contempt in his voice.

"Maybe they fought?“ Kashel‘s eyes were wide.  
"They don‘t fight.“ Pallas tried to calm them all down. It worked up until the moment Damen crowded Laurent against the wall of the restaurant and Laurent‘s expression grew annoyed.

"They definitively are fighting.“ Lykaios bit her bottom lip, as if it was her fault and Lazar had enough. 

He stood up and went over just in time to overhear how Damen told Laurent about trust and them being friends.

Laurent‘s responding question was exactly what Lazar wanted to ask too. Was Damen out of his mind? He couldn‘t talk like that with a person like Laurent.   
He intervened before Damen said something even more stupid. Then they made their way to the hospital.

Lazar really hoped that the two of them could work it out until they arrived at the hospital. He slung one arm around Pallas' shoulder and drew him close when they entered. The tiger therian leaned a bit on him and it was the best feeling ever.

Then Pallas drew back and took Lykaios' hand who looked worried and anxious.   
"He is alright. Don't worry. Nik is far too stubborn to get long term problems from his injuries like that."

Lykaios nodded. She was still fidgeting, but she smiled shyly and thanked the nurse who directed them to Nik's room. On the way there Lazar almost fell over his own feet when he saw Laurent talking to one of the doctors, without Damen by his side. 

The doctor was tall, handsome and very interested in Laurent. He was also therian, large classification, most likely a bear therian.

Safe to say that Lazar didn't like what he saw. Laurent kept his distance but the smile on his face was friendly. And where was Damen? 

He seriously had some issues with the current situation. Especially because he knew that Laurent was not the same cool and calculating person he normally was whenever Damen was concerned.

"Could SOMEBODY please explain to me, why Laurent is down the corridor with Dr. Sexy and not here with our fearless team leader? I thought I told you to resolve your little fight."

Lazar didn't care that Damen looked two seconds away from losing control when they entered Nik's room. He had to knock some sense in the hard scull of this idiot. Nobody else wanted to do it.

"You fought?" Auguste looked suspicious. He scrutinized Damen with his arms crossed before his chest. Lazar could see how his protective brother mode started up. His expression was almost menacing. Poor Damen. "What was the fight about?"

"Some silly misunderstanding, Auguste. It was nothing major."

Well, Lazar's theory was that the unresolved sexual tensions finally took their tool on the two. The explosive potential between Laurent and Damen had to erupt eventually. It was only a matter of time until their attraction boiled over into something else altogether.

The resulting discussion was nothing if not entertaining. In the end even the incident with the disrespectful officer was discussed. Damen stared at them mouth wide open. Auguste looked even more surprised. 

Lazar still had trouble with connecting the calm, calculating Laurent to the person who almost broke someone's nose against the edge of a desk, and he was there when it happened.

"He is a bit over-protective over the things he likes", Auguste admitted finally, throwing a pointed look in Damen's direction, who finally left with some stuttered explanation.

"Just for your information, so far Nik and Pallas both lost to the betting pool." Lazar told them with a grin.  
"I never would have thought that they would have such self-control," Nik complained.

"What betting pool?" Auguste looked between the two of them back and forth.  
"We made a bet how long it will take for them to fuck," Nicaise explained straight forward. The kid really wasn't afraid of anything. 

Auguste raised an eyebrow. Then he focused his gaze on Pallas and Nik. "And you both already lost? How long did you give them?"

Pallas laughed, "one month."  
"Two months, Damen needed a bit time to get back on his feet for the next blond mistake coming around the corner," Nik sighed and dragged one hand through his dark hair.

"You can be glad that you are injured, Nikandros or I would have pulverized you for that comment about my baby brother. Stop comparing him to Jokaste." Auguste told him in a stern voice and then looked at Lazar.  
"What did the others bet?"

"Lykaios and Isander both went with three months, then Nicaise with exactly 100 days, Vannes with three months and three weeks, Kashel is in the pot with 4 months and I didn't bet to stay neutral." Lazar smiled innocently.

Auguste nodded gravely, as if the matter was of great importance. "I think you all might be wrong. I am almost 100% sure they'll fuck today or tonight, whatever."

"WHAT?!" Kashel stared at the big, blond man with her jaw on the floor. "You know I love you, Auguste, but you can't know that."

"Oh but I can. I know Laurent since he was born and Damen is one of my best friends."  
"Never! They fought like small children."

"They are, in fact, still fighting," Lazar added, he grinned at how this remark put a damper on the mood in the room. It was almost as if mommy and daddy had a fight.

"What if they want to separate? If Laurent want's to be transferred?" Lykaios looked close to tears.

"Not because of one little fight. They love each other, I think they would rather quit the job than be separated," Nicaise argued. Lazar was so proud. His partner was really a smart kid.

The door opened and in came Laurent and Damen, both of them looking relaxed and happy again.

"See? Everything is alright. They are again sickly sweet. So could you please all stop fretting?" Nikandros sounded so done. As if he just wanted to sleep until the next century. Lazar could imagine that Nik really didn‘t want another relationship drama involving Damen. 

When Auguste argued with Laurent about the discussion/fight, Lazar almost toppled over with laughter. These brothers were so entertaining. It was apparently not the first time the two of them had this argument, as Laurent didn't even bother with arguing any further.

"We had a little disagreement about who should pay the bill."  
Lazar bit the inside of his cheek to keep from shouting "bullshit". Auguste laughed, he didn't seem to believe everything his brother told him.

The consequential explanation was so ridiculous that Lazar couldn't believe it. Were they stupid? He had thought that Laurent at least was a bit less stupid. 

He couldn't stop the words from tumbling out, "That was all? Every single person in this team could have told you the exact same thing. Are you two stupid? We all can see that you actually would love to be chained together with the key lost somewhere in the ocean."

Laurent was not amused but at least Nik was quick witted. "I can't believe you. But what would interest me, Laurent, what did you ask Dr. Sexy?"

"You mean Paul? I asked him how long you'd need to stay here and if my brother should just check in a hotel near by. He actually asked me if Auguste had a boy- or girlfriend, what I negated. Therefore Auguste, if you'd be interested in Dr. Sexy, he's still single." 

Lazar observed Nik's reaction closely. The lion therian gritted his teeth, clearly unhappy with the direction of the discussion.

His eyes focused on the blond team leader, who nudged his brother playfully. In this moment Lazar knew exactly what Nik was thinking. They were both large felids, apex predators and Nik's expression was full of possessiveness and want in a very animalistic way. Lazar felt his own felid stir. 

It was almost a relief when Dr. Sexy, Paul, opened the door and came inside. Lazar tried to diffuse the tension in the room when he shook the doctor's hand, but Nik and Damen both looked as if they would rip his throat out.

The good doctor didn't really help with the situation when he smiled charmingly at Auguste, his dark eyes lingering on Auguste's full lips, and offered him his help. Nik looked murderous and Lazar was somewhat glad that the lion therian couldn't get up because of his leg.

Then, because therians were just as greedy as humans, the doctor turned towards Laurent and practically undressed him with his eyes.  
Lazar readied himself to keep Damen from killing the man. At least the doctor had the good graces to excuse himself after that. Lazar groaned inwardly.

But Kashel and Nicaise erupted in fits of laughter.  
"He would so like to fuck you." Nicaise clutched his stomach. At least he could still laugh about the situation.

"Which one of the two?" Sweet, innocent Pallas. Lazar really loved the man. He wanted to wrap him in bubble wrapping and hide him away in his bedchamber.

"Both of them, preferably at the same time." Kashel's word shocked Pallas quite a bit. He opened his mouth, as if to say something and then closed it again. Fuck, Lazar wanted to kiss him, devour him. He had to taste amazing. Why didn't he just do it?

Luckily Laurent's next words kept him from doing something stupid, "He wouldn't be the first one."  
"This is a day full of amazing reveals! Did you ever agree?" Lazar really wanted to know. 

The brothers were easily under the top ten of the most handsome men he ever saw, TV and magazines included. They were both intelligent, fit and demanding. He couldn’t imagine someone being able to handle them both at the same time.

"No, Lazar, we did not. I don't want to watch my little brother have sex, like ever. Jesus. And certainly not when I am involved." Auguste looked not nearly as horrified as Lazar expected. Maybe they were confronted with this question more often than either of them would have liked.

Well, Lazar could only lean back and wait for whatever was in store for them. He would bet the next time to be the most entertaining in his life.


	11. You're the only one that gets through to me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my dear readers!  
> Thank you all for accompanying me through the creation of this story.  
> It was so much fun to write and I thank you all for sticking by my side while I poured my words on the pages of my word document xD Your comments motivated me after every single chapter and I loved to see how you felt with Laurent and Damen. I will post other parts of this series but want to thank you all at this point. You make it worthwhile to me to write my silly stories.  
> Love to all of you <3

The door swung open and Laurent stepped outside. He directed them to a big table, everybody sat and Damen was practically thrown out of his chair beside Laurent by Lazar, who just grinned. "You can't keep him all to yourself, Damen."

Laurent, at least, looked not too pleased by the change of seat neighbors, but he didn't protest. Especially when Damen sat down opposite from him. Laurent watched him with a smile. 

"What?“, Damen asked.  
"Well, I just enjoy the view, which improved drastically.“  
"Nothing beats a good view while eating delicious food“, Damen replied seriously while staring very blatantly at his partner. 

Kashel elbowed him and whispered: "Damen, are you flirting with Laurent?" She sounded delighted.  
"No. We are just friends who get along very well." He knew he was a terrible liar and Kashel laughed while patting his upper arm. "Nice try, big guy. You need to work on that in case Nik asks you about it."

Damen grimaced. "Please, I can just deflect if I come up with Auguste's newest antics. I think I am on the winning team. Laurent will give me intel about his brother I can use to distract Nik from my crush."  
Kashel leaned in close. "So, your plan is to ask your crush about his brother in order to distract Nik from said crush?“

Damen knew it would not make sense to try and argue with her further about it. She was relentless and seemed to know exactly what he wanted from Laurent.  
"Yes, exactly."  
"Interesting. Tell me how this works out for you." Kashel grinned and then turned to Vannes, who sat on her other side. 

Damen could finally concentrate on the menu in his hands. He was starving and was so looking forward to his burger, fries, milkshake, and everything he otherwise didn't eat. He was rather proud of the fact that he just startled a little bit, when something bumped against his shin.

He looked up, but Laurent, who sat across from him didn't react in the slightest. He listened to Lazar, who told him more about Damen's escapades and didn't even bat an eyelash, when Damen pressed back against his leg.

He smiled down at the menu and started to listen in on their conversation.  
Lazar told him everything. It was mortifying and hilarious at the same time.

Right then, Lazar was in the middle of the story where Damen had been drunk enough at a Christmas party five years ago and had taken the cheetah triplets from Unit Beta, Isa, Lys and Nera, to one of the sleeping bays. He never fucked in the sleeping bays, not before and not after.

However, he thought back on that evening with fond memories. None of the three had reappeared that evening and neither had he.  
Laurent raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow and just said: "My hypothesis is that all four of them passed out as soon as they hit the mattress."

"Well, one of the involved parties is right here. Let's ask him. – Hey Damen. Is it true? Did you pass out?" Lazar knew the answer, everybody knew the answer, but he wanted to torture Damen, that much was clear.  
"Eventually," he tried to avoid giving a straight answer and Laurent's expression changed from mild interest to intrigue.

"Now, that sounds interesting."  
Damen felt how Laurent put a bit more pressure on their entangled legs. He sat forward and, at the same time, he dragged his foot up Damen's leg, then down again. "More details please."

He felt the flush creep up on his face and just shook his head. "Nope. That's five years in the past. The only thing still relevant is that Isa, Lys and Nera are very good friends of mine, all three now in happy relationships and I never fucked in the sleeping bays again."

Lazar chuckled. "Yes. To the disappointment of many agents.“ He fixated Laurent again. "You don't seem to be bothered by all these stories, Laurent."  
"The reason for that is simple. It just doesn't bother me." 

Laurent smiled at the waitress, who came to take their orders.  
When they all had placed their orders, Lazar seized the newest member of the team up.  
"Now, are there some dark secrets, we need to know?"

"No." - "Yes." Laurent and Vannes said at the same time.  
"That sounds interesting. Spill the beans." Lazar's eyes practically glowed when he looked at Vannes with hope.  
"Let me think about it- No. I won't tell you. I need this for dire times."

"When you want to blackmail Laurent?" Lazar almost squealed. Laurent, on the other hand, looked as relaxed as one can be.  
"No. When I want to blackmail you, Lazar. Laurent can't be blackmailed." Vannes grinned and her words put a damper on Lazar's good mood.

"Come on. Just tell me, is it a dirty sex thing?"  
"Sex is always dirty- So much body fluids. Sanitary is something else altogether," Laurent said with a smirk.

"So it is a dirty sex secret?"  
"It's not a secret," Laurent observed and Vannes looked at him pleadingly. "Please, don't tell him. I need something to bribe him."

Laurent chuckled and nodded, while Lazar looked as if he might cry.  
"Can't you give me something else? Just one tiny morsel of information from your private life, Laurent. I would be the hero of the whole of Unit Alpha. People don't even know where you live."

"Fine. What information do you want? Remember to think about your question. It will be the only one I answer." Laurent looked up, his eyes met Damen and he almost drowned in the deep, sparkling blue. 

He had a lot of questions for his partner but they shouldn‘t be discussed here.  
Lazar was silent for a few moments, what gained the attention of the whole table.

"What is the problem with him?", Nicaise sounded as if Lazar was a machine that was broken.  
"Laurent will answer one question that Lazar asks." Kashel sounded like an overexcited high school girl.

"Fuck. Who decided that Lazar could ask the question?"  
That was a good question. Damen knew that Lazar was not known for asking interesting questions. Normally he just asked something concerning sex.  
"He was the one who asked," Laurent calmly explained.

"Okay. I have one!" Lazar looked so happy, he almost bounced off his chair in excitement. "Have you ever slept with someone you worked with and was it good?"

The whole table groaned but Laurent looked serious and directed his gaze to Lazar.  
"Yes." 

"What? Yes to both? With whom?" Lazar‘s eyes flitted to Damen.  
Laurent grinned and Damen felt the urge to drag him over the table into his lap and kiss the smug smirk from his lips. 

"One question, remember."  
"Come on, Laurent, you need to give me more."  
The blond man leaned back, looked at his teammates and shook his head. 

His leg pushed farther between Damen's.  
He felt how he grew hot. His partner was temptation personified and he knew it. 

Fortunately, their lunch arrived and Damen could concentrate on his food. The interrogation came also to a halt. He was so happy to not hear about Laurent‘s sex life anymore because he immediately started imagine himself in said sex life.

"The burning question here is, did you two fuck yet?“ Nicaise waited exactly until Damen took a sip of his shake to ask the question. The therian almost chocked and sputtered while Kashel immediately handed him some napkins.

"I can assure you, I didn‘t sleep with an agent since I started working at HQ.“ Laurent smiled and handed Damen a wet wipe from his bag.  
"Thank you.“

"So you two really only have a bromance. How disappointing. All these UST are killing me, slowly.“ Nicaise stabbed his cake as if it was responsible for the whole thing.

It was a great relief that the topic was over with that remark and Damen could lean back in his seat and play this flirtatious game he started with Laurent.  
Laurent smiled at him while simultaneously dragging his foot up his leg. He tightened his hand around his glass of water and took a deep breath. Laurent‘s grin widened. 

"Damen, do you think we could go visit Nik afterwards?“ Lykaios sounded hopeful.  
"Sure.“ He agreed immediately and then stood abruptly, because Laurent was entirely too much to handle for him right now. "I‘ll go ask for the bill.“

"Wait, I‘ll come with you. I won‘t let you pay.“ Laurent was out if his seat in a second.  
They entered the restaurant and the blond man looked up to him with his pale eyes. "Did I make you nervous?“

Damen contemplated lying but he knew he was horrible at it and Laurent could always tell. "Yes. You did.“  
"Really?“  
"Laurent, you are making me nervous whenever you look at me.“  
"How intriguing.“

Damen smiled at the waitress behind the register, who gaped at the two of them, and decided to forgo an answer. She looked them once over and then asked politely, pointedly in Laurent's direction: "How can I help you?“

Laurent leaned onto the bar. "The bill, please. And don‘t let him pay. It‘s my turn.“ She nodded, obviously she would listen to him. Damen was a therian and a lot of humans still had prejudice.

"We can‘t even establish whose turn it is, Laurent as we are going out together for the first time.“  
"Last time at Bally you invited us so now I invite you.“  
"I am team leader,“ Damen protested.  
"And I am second in command. So just accept your defeat gracefully.“ 

Laurent handed over a black credit card and Damen threw up his hands in exasperation. "I can‘t believe you.“  
The waitress watched them with big eyes.

Laurent tilted his head. "And what exactly is the problem with me paying?“  
"You are younger and you already came out of your way to even be here today.“  
"It was my idea to come here.- Thank you very much.“ Laurent tipped the waitress generously and then just stepped out of the restaurant. 

"But only because I complained.“  
"Yes, and I could have placated you without having to risk your wrath or disappointment. But I didn‘t, because I wanted to come too.“  
They stood a bit to the side of the door and Laurent turned to face him. 

He was careful to make sure they didn‘t block the entrance, he was so damn polite, Damen felt his anger bubble up.  
"Why do you have to be so dense?“ He growled and Laurent gaped at him.

"I am dense? Me?“ He had lowered his voice to almost a whisper. "You have no fucking clue Damianos.“  
"Because you don‘t talk to me!“  
"The only reason for that is because I don‘t want to bother you. I am being considerate of your feelings, you brute.“

Damen observed how Laurent squared his shoulders and tightened his jaw. He wanted to haul him against his chest and kiss him until the stubborn tilt of his chin melted away into sweet submission.

"If it was my decision I would want you around me all the time. You talk about bothering me and intruding but if I could chose I would talk to you all night and go pick you up in the mornings for work and then, in the evening, talk to you again until one of us passes out,“ Damen hissed. 

He realized, that he had crowded Laurent against the wall of the restaurant. The man looked even more gorgeous when his cheeks were flushed in rightful anger.  
"Then why didn‘t you call me even once, Damen? You had my number for as long as I had yours.“

All the fight left Damen and he took one deep breath. It was now or never. "I didn‘t want to frighten you away. I couldn‘t get over it if you left. I know, we are partners for only two months, but I never trusted one of my former partners like I trust you.“

Laurent looked up at him. His lips parted in an "Oh“ and his blue eyes sparkling as if the sun hit the ocean.  
"Yes. Oh. I thought we were friends all along but you declined every single one of my invitations and I just thought you had enough of my presence at work.“

"Friends? Is that what this is about?“ Laurent‘s face was not giving him a single hint about what his partner thought in that moment. Damen opened his mouth without having a clue what he should say now. 

Before he could reply, they heard Lazar say, "you two should really stop arguing. It makes everybody uncomfortable if daddy and papa are fighting.“  
He stood beside them, his arms crossed before his chest and a smirk on his lips. 

Damen took a step back, as if he had burned himself.  
"Also, didn‘t you promise Lykaios to go visit Nik?“

"Yes, you are right. We should go.“ Damen took a deep breath. "We meet up at the hospital entrance. And Lazar, no funny business like last time, you hear me? I‘ll let Nicaise decide on your punishment if you tell people again that there was an outbreak of some disease and once they would enter, they couldn‘t leave for several days.“

"But it helped sort out the people who didn‘t really need to go to the emergency room.“ Lazar only shrugged.  
"Yes, and it scared the living shit out of all the others. This is not negotiable.“ Damen downed his serious and stern face and Lazar gave in. "Fine. As long as you two make up until we are at the hospital I swear I won‘t do anything troublesome.“

He turned around to usher the rest of the team to the cars. Damen faced Laurent again. "Let‘s go.“  
They made their way over to the car in tense silence and Damen felt horrible. He didn‘t want to fight with Laurent. It was awful.

"I‘m sorry,“ he said as soon as they sat in the seats of his truck. He closed his eyes and continued, "you wanted to be nice, considerate even and I freaked out. I am sorry.“  
He felt Laurent hand on his biceps. "Damianos. It‘s okay. I am sorry too. I shouldn‘t have reacted so defensive.“

"I don‘t want to fight with you.“  
"Me neither. Let‘s just forget it. We both misunderstood the situation.“  
Damen nodded. Then Laurent started the car. The sick feeling still lingered in his stomach. 

When they arrived at the hospital, he turned to Laurent again. "Are we okay?“  
"Yes. We are alright, partner. You‘ll come over to my place later and we‘ll watch some series, your pick.“ Laurent smiled and then got out. 

Damen followed him. Feeling somewhat torn. On the one hand he was very happy to spend the day with Laurent, on the other hand he still thought about their whispered fight and how hurt Laurent had looked for a second when he asked why Damen had never called. Even more did the question if they were friends bother him.

He felt worse, when they arrived at Nik‘s room and the doctor, who just came out almost stumbled over his own feet as soon as he saw Laurent. The man was attractive, handsome and he had a bright smile.

"Can I help you somehow?“, he asked. His tone friendly but also a bit flirtatious. Laurent smiled back, it was a tiny thing but not forced the way Damen saw him do often enough.

"We are just here to visit Nikandros. But I have a question, if you have a minute, doctor. Damen you can go in first. I will be there shortly.“  
Damen gritted his teeth, the doctor was a therian, his eyes reflecting the light, but he couldn‘t see his classification tattoo on his neck. 

Even without the tattoo, Damen suspected him to be a large classification. He was tall, not as muscled as Damen but still fit and his eyes fixated Laurent like prey.  
"Sure. Call for me if you need me.“  
He wanted Laurent to look at him but the blond man threw him only a short glance and a court, „yes.“ 

Damen boiled with anger when he entered the room. He needed all of his self-control to not bang the door behind him. It was horrible. He balled his hands, his felid pushed to the forefront, wanting to stake its claim. The lion in him didn‘t like the thought of retreating and leaving Laurent to do whatever he wanted. He roared in Damen‘s head, clawing for control, but Damen stood firm, held his ground and pushed him down. He was in control and nobody else. 

The close call to an unprompted shift startled him most of all. Never before was he so close to losing it. He always prided himself on how immaculately his control was. Laurent wasn‘t even his, not his boyfriend, not his husband and certainly not his mate. He had no right to feel so agitated.

"Everything okay Damen?“ Auguste stood before him. One hand extended, cautious and non-threatening.  
"I am fine.“  
"I heard your conversation with the doctor.“  
"We both heard.“ Nik added from the bed. "You still didn‘t fuck? I think if this goes on somebody will get hurt by all the unresolved sexual tension between the two of you.“

"Oh, please Nik, shut up.“ Damen spoke trough gritted teeth. He was still seething. He concentrated hard on the noises outside the door. But Laurent was too smart for his own good. He knew therians could hear a lot better than humans and apparently had relocated for the talking with the good doctor.

"Damen, you have to make a decision. Either you want him for yourself and then you need to make a move, or you let him do whatever he wants and then you need to stop having a hissy fit whenever he does just that.“ Nik the smartass was right and Damen knew it. It didn‘t mean he had to like it. Auguste just stood there and watched him with the same blue eyes that tormented Damen in his sleep.

Just then, the door flew open and Lazar, Nicaise, Pallas and Lykaios spilled into the room. Lykaios immediately was at Nik’s side and kissed his cheek. "Niki! I was so worried. How long do you have to stay here?“ Pallas fist bumped the lion therian and sat down on the chair Auguste must have occupied before he came to calm Damen.

Lazar however had his eyes on Damen. "Could SOMEBODY please explain to me, why Laurent is down the corridor with Dr. Sexy and not here with our fearless team leader? I thought I told you to resolve your little fight.“

"You fought?“ Now Auguste narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms before his chest. "What was the fight about?“  
"Some silly misunderstanding, Auguste. It was nothing major,“ Damen argued, "and Laurent apparently has some questions for the doctor.“

"Yes. Maybe they include the question if the good doctor would like to practice his examination technique with him.“ Lazar waggled his eyebrows and then poked Damen in the chest. "You better fix this.“

Vannes, Isander and Kashel entered the room and Kashel grinned brightly. "Hey Nik! I hope you are enjoying your hospital stay. Are all doctors this hot or is this one the exception?“

Nik groaned and buried his face in his hands. Damen suspected that his best friend wanted to bang his head against the wall, which was fortunately too far away.

Nicaise turned around. "I‘ll go get Laurent, not that he does something he will regret.“  
"Laurent isn‘t one for rash decision,“ Auguste told him but Nicaise just shrugged. "That may be true, if it doesn‘t concern Damen.“

Auguste‘s eyebrows climbed up his forehead and he turned to Damen. "What does he mean?“  
"I have no idea.“  
They both redirected their questioning gaze to Nicaise who was already at the door. 

"Laurent is different whenever Damen is involved. He once almost destroyed an agent before a briefing who dared to talk about Jokaste and joked that she must have preferred a big dick over a big mouth.“ They all understood the slight. Kastor was a brooding and silent kind of guy while Damen was loud, talk-active and always the life of a party.

Damen and Auguste both gaped.  
"What?“, they asked simultaneously.  
"You two were too occupied with each other, but Pallas and I had to keep him from bashing the asshole‘s face against the table top.“

"It‘s true, I was for letting him do what he wanted but I was outvoted,“ Lazar pouted. "However, I heard the poor guy has his personal computer infested with various viruses since then and that is most likely no coincidence so I am only half as disappointed.“

Nicaise left the room and Nik groaned. "Why does all this drama have to take place here? Couldn‘t you do that somewhere else?“  
"I am sorry, Nik.“ Damen turned to his best friend. "I think I should-,“ he motioned over his shoulder and was out of the room a second later. 

The blood rushed in his ears. His senses went into overdrive. He saw Laurent at the end of the corridor, still talking to the doctor, who had leaned in close to him and he was walking towards them, before his brain registered it. 

Nicaise stopped in his approach and stared at him curiously but Damen didn‘t care, his focus solely on his partner. He snatched Laurent‘s wrist, ground out a, “I need to talk to you,“ and dragged him away. Laurent followed him but the silence was no good sign. 

Fortunately, Damen knew this hospital like the back of his hand. He spent a lot of time in this walls. As a result, he found the storage room without problems, pushed Laurent inside and closed the door behind them.

His partner stared at him with a murderous expression on his face. "What was that?“  
Damen was so angry, he felt his fangs elongate. "Stop it, Laurent. Just for a second.“ He felt how his self restraint was pushed to it‘s breaking point. 

"No. I‘d like to know what your intention was, Damianos.“ He carefully wore a blank expression, the anger only visible in his eyes.  
Damen took a deep breath. Why did he never realize that Laurent smelled like ginger? The scent made his head swim. 

"You want to know my intentions?“  
"Yes. If you could deign an answer, I‘d be most pleased.“ Laurent still stared at him. His eyes fixated on Damen‘s every move, but he was still only human with human reflexes. 

He let out a surprised gasp when Damen suddenly had his hands in the blond waves, tilted his head up and crushed his lips against his own. The therian felt how Laurent went stiff as a poker in his arms but he couldn‘t bring himself to pull back. 

Laurent‘s lips tasted like sweet ambrosia, like salvation and debauchery at the same time. Damen burned from the inside out. Every nerve ending was on fire. The rush headier than any adrenaline. 

Then his partner relaxed, opened his lips and yanked Damen forward with his hands fisted in his shirt. And it was perfection. 

Damen dragged his tongue over the full lips against his, he tightened his grip in Laurent‘s hair and kissed him as if there was no tomorrow. Their teeth clanked together, their tongues caressed each other and Laurent gasped when Damen bit lightly on his bottom lip. 

When he finally pulled back, to catch his breath and talk, Laurent stared up at him like the picture of seduction.  
His pupils were blown, the blue of his irises only a sliver around all the black, his cheeks were flushed, his lips swollen, his breathing came rapid and his blond hair was mussed beyond any hope of straightening it out again.

Damen almost swallowed his tongue but then he found his footing and asked, "my intentions clear enough?“  
Laurent nodded. "Yes. Crystal.“  
"Good.“ He paused, still trying to process what he hd just done. "That’s really good.“

Laurent stared at him, then a smirk formed on his lips. He stalked towards Damen who in that moment questioned who of them was the felid therian. Laurent looked like a felid on the hunt.

"And pray tell, Daminos, I assume you have a plan, would you care to share?“ Laurent stood so close before him Damen could smell his shampoo. He looked up through his lashes with a knowing smile on his full lips. He was beautiful. Even with ruffled hair, wrinkled clothes and in a storage room, Laurent was the most beautiful being Damen had ever laid eyes on. 

When he reached out to touch his fingertips to Damen‘s jaw, Damen felt how his brain short circuited. "We should go back or they will think I am killing Dr. Sexy.“  
Laurent stared at him, startled for a moment, then he laughed. "Dr. Sexy?“  
"Lazar named him. He was not happy with me for some reason.“

Laurent only shook his head in amusement. He brushed his fingers through his hair, now it actually looked fashionably tousled, as if the mess was intended. Then he left the storage room. 

"You know we need to talk about this situation sooner or later.“ Laurent remarked as they made their way back to Nik‘s room.  
"Yes, you are right. We need to talk about it.“ Damen admired Laurent‘s backside in the black jeans, too distracted to really pay attention to what Laurent said.

"Good. I‘d suggest we meet up at a strip club to talk about it. How about this evening?“  
"Yeah. Great idea.“  
Laurent stopped and snapped his fingers before Damen‘s face. "Hello, agent Leblanc for agent Vallis. You just agreed to meet in a strip club to talk about our situation. Concentration Damianos.“

Damen sheepishly rubbed his neck with his hand. He could see how Laurent‘s gaze flickered from his eyes to his upper arm for a second. At least he wasn‘t the only one who had problems with concentrating.

"You prove to be rather distracting.“  
Laurent only shook his head. "Don’t let the Sarge hear that or she might separate us.“  
Damen blanched. "Never.“ 

Laurent smiled softly before he opened the door. Damen resolutely banned all thoughts of kissing Laurent from his mind. He needed to put on a straight face and that wouldn’t work if he thought about those full, soft lips, pressed against his own. 

Nik greeted them with an exclamation, "see? Everything is alright. They are again sickly sweet. So could you please all stop fretting?“  
Auguste was by Laurent’s side in a second. "Everything alright? I heard you two had a fight.“  
"It was no fight. It was a discussion.“ 

Auguste put one hand on Laurent’s shoulder and told him, "whenever an adult says that, it’s clear they had a fight. Now, why did you fight?“  
"Well, it might have been a heated discussion.“  
"And what was the reason for that?“ Auguste wouldn’t let it go. 

Damen could see how Laurent’s brain started working. "We had a little disagreement about who should pay the bill.“  
Damen felt how the eyes of the team all landed on him. Nik actually snorted. Auguste stared at Laurent and then he laughed. "That’s not the whole truth, Lauri. I know your evasive tactics.“

"You could just leave it at that and not be such a nosy idiot“, Laurent argued with his brother and Auguste shook his head.  
"You never keep something from me, so even the attempt at it means it has to be something good. Come on, we are all friends here. We want only what’s best for you.“

Laurent sighed and then he clearly gave up. "Alright then. I just ask all of you to wait with laughing until I finished, otherwise I won’t tell you.“  
Auguste actually rubbed his hands together and snickered. "Tell me.“  
Lazar put one arm around Damen and grinned. "Yes, tell us.“

"We had an argument because Damen thought he was imposing his company, I told him it was bullshit, he didn’t believe me and accused be of being dense,“ Auguste winced and threw Damen a look filled with pity, "and I told him, that he had no clue about anything, he replied that this was my fault for not talking to him, I told him, that I didn’t want to intrude on his very sparse free time and he told me that I would never intrude and then we made up.“

Lazar’s jaw hit the floor. "That was all? Every single person in this team could have told you the exact same thing. Are you two stupid? We all can see that you actually would love to be chained together with the key lost somewhere in the ocean.“

"Thank you, Lazar, for your wise words. We came to the same conclusion.“ Laurent rolled his eyes. Nik groaned. "I can’t believe you. But what would interest me, Laurent, what did you ask Dr. Sexy?“

"You mean Paul? I asked him how long you’d need to stay here and if my brother should just check in a hotel near by. He actually asked me if Auguste had a boy- or girlfriend, what I negated. So, Auguste, if you’d be interested in Dr. Sexy, he’s still single.“

As if summoned, the door opened and Dr. Sexy entered. He seemed a bit surprised to find so many people in the room, but then he smiled. "You must be agent Karas’ team from the THIRDS?“  
"Yes. We are.“ Lazar grinned brightly and stood to shake his hand. "We will wait outside. Come on.“

"That’s really not necessary, I just came to return the patient sheet.“ He smiled and returned said sheet to the case at the feet of Nik’s bed. His smile turned dazzling when he faced Auguste, who still stood beside Laurent.

"Agent Leblanc, I heard from your brother, that you stayed here since agent Karas was admitted. If you need anything, the nurses or I will do what we can to help you.“ Auguste nodded a bit confused and Damen could see how Laurent had to suppress a smirk. 

Then the doctor turned to Laurent and Paul‘s smile grew even more. "Thank you again, Laurent. If you ever feel the need for a doctor, you know where to find me.“  
"Thank you, Paul.“ The doctor nodded to the other agents and left the room. 

Fortunately, Nicaise and Kashel had the good graces to wait until he was out of earshot for even a therian to start laughing.  
Nicaise gasped, "he would so like to fuck you.“  
"Which one of the two?“, Pallas was confused and he was not the only one.  
"Both of them, preferably at the same time,“ Kashel giggled. 

Laurent and Auguste both shrugged. "He wouldn’t be the first one.“  
"This is a day full of amazing reveals! Did you ever agree?“ Lazar looked much too interested for his own good.

"No, Lazar, we did not.“ Auguste sounded just as exasperated as Laurent looked. "I don’t want to watch my little brother have sex, like ever. Jesus. And certainly not when I am involved.“

"And as much as I love Auguste, that would really exceed the limit of what it acceptable to me. It’s bad enough I walked in on him and his last girlfriend once. She actually invited me for participation.“ Laurent shuddered.

They broke into laughter and Damen felt actually at ease and happy. If someone told him half a year ago that he would feel like that today, he would have laughed in their face. But now he could listen to his team joking with each other, Auguste whining because he needed to get back to work tomorrow, Lazar realizing that this applied to all of them and joining in the whining, Nicaise threatening to drag him to work by his ear if he dared to show up late and everything was well. 

He left together with Laurent after he promised to come and visit again the next day. 

The drive to Laurent’s apartment was silent, the tension high between them. Damen forced himself to open the car door slowly, getting out at a sedated pace and following Laurent’s controlled strides to his door. 

But once they entered, he slammed the door shut behind them and had Laurent pressed up against the wood. He kissed him passionately and Laurent returned the kiss just as enthusiastically. The blond man buried his hands in Damen’s curls and tugged him even closer. 

"Fuck, Laurent,“ Damen panted between two kisses. "Wait.“ It was entirely too much. He felt like a teenager and he seriously struggled with his self-control. 

"Do you have any idea how long I waited for this moment? And now you seriously intend to make me wait even longer?“ Laurent sounded almost amused as he dragged his fingers through his hair. He leaned back against the door and Damen took a step back.

"I wanted to do that since I first saw you, but in the mean time you became more than just a pretty face and sharp tongue, Laurent. You are my partner. You are the person I trust most. I can’t risk losing you because I want to fuck you.“

Laurent sighed. "It can never be easy with you, can it?“  
"I’m afraid not. Sorry. I am a sappy dork, I know it can be quite exasperating.“  
"No, you are right. We can’t risk our partnership because we just started something we didn’t think through. Come on, we should sit down. Do you want something to drink?“  
"Yes, a beer would be great.“

"Are you in the mood for indulgence?“ Laurent teased, but he went and got a beer out of his fridge.  
"If I can’t have you I need some consolation.“  
"Who said you can’t have me? We just need to talk first, don’t we? Doesn’t mean we can’t eventually get to fucking.“ He came back and sat down on the couch beside Damen. 

Damen took a sip of his beer to stall for some seconds, before he faced his partner and then said, "just fucking won’t be enough for me, Laurent.“  
"Oh?“

"Yes. Oh. I can’t just fuck you and pretend as if I don’t have feelings for you. I think you are amazing, beautiful and the most intriguing person I ever met. I want to know everything that is there to know about you. Yes, I want the sex, that much should be clear, but I also want the evenings watching TV and I want the trips to the grocery store, and I want your educated rants about the latest newspaper article you read or your explanation to something Recon sent us. I want to hear you complain because someone from Intel wanted your help with one of their algorithms. I want to gift you Japanese trick boxes and watch you open them. And I need you to know that before we start something.“

Laurent hadn’t said even one thing while Damen talked. He had just observed every single movement and listened. Now he opened his mouth and said the four most beautiful words, Damen ever heard, "I want that too.“  
"What?“  
"I want that too. Everything you said, I want that too.“  
"Really?“ Damen couldn’t believe it.  
"Yes.“ 

Damen gaped. He couldn't believe it. Laurent seriously wanted him too?  
"Now that we made that clear, can we get to the fuck part of the evening?" Laurent raised an eyebrow in challenge.

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you want." Damen was still dazed. The whole thing left him breathless. He had dreamed of that moment, of Laurent telling him, he wanted him too, all of him. It was a heady feeling. Damen knew, nothing would ever compare to that knowledge. He tracked every single of Laurent's movement. His lips quirked into a smile. 

"What is it, Damen?"  
"I think I waited for you all along." The words were too honest, too raw and Damen knew it. However, he couldn't regret them.  
"I think I did the same." Laurent's eyes were luminous, deep like the ocean. He was so beautiful. Damen couldn’t do anything else but draw him close and kiss him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here it ends! Their first kiss :P Honestly, I am so proud of them xD


End file.
